


How to Train Your Useless Dragon

by Mikacrispy



Series: How to Train Your Useless Dragon [2]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Barbarian Bakugou Katsuki, Don't Examine This Too Closely, Don't expect my magic dragons to stick to human gender norms, Dragon Midoriya Izuku, F/F, F/M, Genderbending, Genderfluid Character, I think I'm funny at least, M/M, Midoriya Izuku is Toothless, Midoriya Izuku is a Dork, Romantic Comedy, This is getting close to crack territory, it's a magic dragon, romcom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2019-11-15 21:02:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 96,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18080861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikacrispy/pseuds/Mikacrispy
Summary: Bakugou Katsuki needs to kill a dragon to take its teeth and become a warrior of his tribe.But, what? Why the fuck doesn't this dragon have teeth?Written from the promp "What if Izuku was the dragon?"Shamelessly How to Train Your Dragon inspired.





	1. How to hunt down a dragon

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Just a few warning before we continue:  
> This is a work of comedy, please don't take anything written here too seriously.  
> This fic will take ample liberties with Viking culture, again don't take this too seriously.  
> I hope you guys enjoy it :))
> 
> If anyone is curious, the idea of this fic came to me after seeing [this video](https://youtu.be/GL9sgRLdR_E)  
> Aren't they precious and very BakuDeku-like? *-*

**How to hunt down a dragon**

Bakugou Katsuki was on a hunt. And it was not just a regular shitty hunt to bring a wild boar back for a banquet. No, today he was going to hunt down a dragon and become a warrior.

Katsuki was the son of Bakugou Mitsuki, the chief of their village and the strongest Viking warrior in the whole world (as far as Katsuki is concerned). Warriors and Chiefs from all over the land came to her to show their respects, and one of the reasons she was so revered was because she took down her first dragon at 17 years old. This week Katsuki himself has turned 17, and that is why right now he is in this tiny shitty boat that barely fits a man and a goat to find himself a dragon to kill.

You see, dragons are a fucking pest. They live in an archipelago of small islands about 6 hours sailing from Katsuki’s village, and the fucking nuisances destroy every boat that comes near their territory. Many ill-advised fishermen have already perished from the dragons’ attacks. And if that was not enough, sometimes the fucking lizards dared to steal sheep from their herds in the middle of the night.

That is why the order for every warrior in the village was to kill any dragon on sight if possible. And it was considered an unofficial rite of passage for young men seeking to become warriors. No warrior would be taken seriously without _at least_ one dragon tooth hanging from a leather string in their neck. Usually, young Vikings in age to become warriors (from 18 to 20 years old) spend their nights awake hoping to score a dragon trying to eat a sheep. Or they volunteer to accompany fishermen to see if they luck out and catch a dragon away from their archipelago.

But those are shitty options for shitty cowards that want to sit around on their asses for far too long. Bakugou Katsuki is not a coward and doesn’t have time to wait around for a dragon to graciously fall on his sword. That is why today when the first rays of sun peeked in the horizon, Katsuki was taking a tiny boat (one that wouldn’t be missed by the fishermen when they started their day) dressed in his best combat clothes (rustic dark brown trousers, a light short-sleeved cotton white shirt, black boots and his thick red cape lined with wolf fur), carrying his best weapons (his big broadsword, his bow and arrow quiver, and a long rope with a metal hook on the end of it) to get close to the dragon’s islands and hunt one down.

His mother would scream like a banshee if she got a wind of what he was doing. She is always nagging him about how she only killed that first dragon because it invaded her family’s land and was destroying their herd. Earl Mitsuki ruled with an iron fist and she believes dragons shouldn’t be hunted purposely or else they may decide to hunt the humans back. According to his mother’s rules, dragons can be killed if they come to their land or if they fly by a Viking boat.

But Katsuki doesn’t give a fuck about his mother’s coward rules. When he becomes Earl, they will hunt down every single one of those fucking overgrown lizards and get rid of those nuisances once and for all. Fuck this shit of waiting around until the dragons decide they had enough of fish and sheep and that now they want human meat. They don’t even know how many dragons there even are in the fucking archipelago, but from what they have seen flying around it was a fucking lot. Dragons of several colors, shapes, sizes, and abilities.

Katsuki would not be caught unprepared when the fuckers come, and he will show his mother how ready he is to take his place as First Warrior. The position of First Warrior in his village is vacant as of now. Usually, the strongest warrior in the village is chosen as the First Warrior if the Earl is not in conditions to lead battles and raids anymore. And the fucking old hag isn’t! She is getting old and slow, and Katsuki deserves the place as First Warrior! But he can’t claim to be the strongest warrior in the village without a fucking dragon tooth on his chest, and if he doesn’t get it soon enough the old hag will have to appoint someone else for the fucking position! Katsuki simply can’t let that shit happen.

He already can see a small island that belongs to the dragons’ archipelago on the horizon. The island is so fucking small that not even his village’s market could fit in the shitty thing, but that is a good thing. He knows he will not find many dragons around here, but it would be suicide to fight more than one dragon by himself. That is alright for today, Katsuki just needs one dragon, one tooth. After he goes back to his village, claims the title of First Warrior and builds a hunting party, then he can come back and take down several of the flying fuckers at once.

Katsuki decides he is close enough and starts setting up his bait. He brought some pieces of goat and a leather pouch full of goat’s blood to grab a dragon’s attention. He douses the goat pieces in the blood and throws as far away from his boat as he can. Dragons supposedly have very good senses of smell, so one of them should pick up the smell in the water if they are close enough.

After setting his bait, all he could do was wait. Katsuki’s sharp red eyes scan the horizon looking for any movement at all. The fucking lizards could fly and swim proficiently, so his prey could be coming from deep under the water or from up in the sky. The sun is at its peak right now, and it hurts Bakugou’s eyes to look so intensively. The water looks like it is sprinkled with shredded glass from how much it shimmers.

Katsuki’s eyes are watering from the luminosity, so maybe it took him longer than it should to notice that one of the shadows in the water was not moving slowly like all the other cloud shadows. He glares at the sea trying to be sure it’s a dragon under the waves and not some whale, but he sees nothing in it. Then he looks up to see if there is anything hiding among the clouds and… gotcha fucker.

There is something there alright. It looks big enough to be a dragon, and it’s trying to be stealthy hiding between fluffy clouds so Bakugou can barely see its shape in the sky. But if Bakugou can’t see it, the dragon probably can’t see him properly either. The lizard is too high to kill with a sword, but Bakugou brought his bow thinking about that.

However, as Bakugou is preparing his arrow, the dragon dives towards the floating piece of goat. Shit, the fucking lizard is stupid. The dragon is all black and doesn’t look too big from where Katsuki can see it. He didn’t think any dragon would be dense enough to actually go eat the goat, he thought they would be lured by the smell but notice it was a bait since dragons supposedly were so damn smart. Not this dragon, though. This loser was going at it like he hadn’t eaten in a whole fucking week.

Well, even fucking better for Katsuki. Bakugou fixes his hook on an arrow and untangles the rope. He can’t have the shitty dragon getting away from him in the sea. Katsuki pulls his bow aiming at the beast just as the dragon finished eating the goat piece and is preparing to fly away again. When the big lizard flaps his big black wings to impulse himself up, Katsuki shoots his arrow. And hits.

The arrow itself barely scraps the dragon’s thick hide, but the metal hook grabs on the scales of its back and comes ripping down until it catches the dragon’s wing. The beast trashed and pulls against the rope, but Katsuki was ready. He tied the end of the rope to his boat and is holding at it as his life depended on it.

“DIE, YOU FUCKING BEAST!” Katsuki screams as the dragon’s force makes his boat slide across the waves.

Every time Bakugou pulls harder on the rope, he can feel the tension of the hook on the dragon’s wing. The animal is clearly distressed making horrible sounds. With one last pull, the metal hook slashes the rest of its wing and falls on the sea. The dragon flies pitifully, barely above the waves, completely without balance since his left wing was so torn as he tries to get away from Katsuki.

“Not so fast, you ugly monster!” Bakugou takes the boat’s oars and goes after the big lizard. The stupid beast is going towards the small island where probably there isn’t any other dragon to help it. Katsuki has this one in the bag. Now all he has to do is get on the island, finish his kill and grab his tooth.

Katsuki rows faster than ever from the amount of excitement he is feeling. His face is contorted in a huge maniac grin at the perspective of taking down his first dragon. He gets to the tiny island in no time at all, pulls his boat to the sand (no use in taking down a dragon just to be left stranded alone in a shitty island) and runs to find his prey. The island’s jungle is thick, but Katsuki hears the beast wailing close by.

He finds his dragon by the roots of a giant tree (it would take at least five grown men with their arms opened wide to even hug the tree’s trunk), curled around itself and wailing in pain. It was an ugly sound and an ugly sight. The dragon was all black, but where the light that peeked from the foliage touched his scales it shined green. It was slightly bigger than a horse, but that was still very small for a dragon.

However what made the sight so ghastly was the damage his hook did. The scratch started between the dragon’s wings on his back, then you could see the point where the hook pierced the dragon’s wing and carved itself out in a big slash that poured red blood on the floor. There was no way that beast could fly out of here with that injury. At this point, it was probably an act of mercy to finish the kill.

“Hey, shitty lizard. Now it’s just you and me. Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick.” Bakugou unsheathes his sword from his hip and walks carefully towards the beast.

The dragon turns his face towards Katsuki with terrified eyes. Can dragons cry? Because Bakugou swears he can see fucking tears coming out the animal’s huge green eyes. And how can eyes be so green? It’s like there is every nuance of the color painted in the beast’s irises. Then the lizard makes more awful wailing sounds at Katsuki, its drool dripping, its big pink tongue moving as he was trying to talk, its teeth…

Where. The. Fuck. Are. His. Teeth??

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Katsuki launches at the animal and forces its big mouth open with his bare hands. The dragon gets so confused it stops its crying and stands still at Bakugou’s examination. “WHAT THE FUCK? WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOUR TEETH? YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT! WORTHLESS DRAGON! ARGH!”

Bakugou takes a step back pulling his hair in anger. He can’t believe it! The first dragon he brings down doesn’t have teeth! How can a dragon not have teeth? What the fuck? How can the Gods hate Katsuki so fucking much? Fucking fuck!

Okay, alright. Take a deep breath, Bakugou. All is not lost. You can try again another day. Except that he can’t because once his mother finds out he took a boat and went to the dragons’ archipelago, she will flip the fuck out and hang him from the ankles in the middle of the village!

Shit, fuck! Double fuck! How can he fix this shitshow? The dragon doesn’t have teeth, but its hide is not that ugly. Maybe he can skin it and make armor pieces for himself? Could the dragon’s wings fit on his boat? And the shitty lizard should have claws…

“Alright, shit. I can make this work. You have claws, right? Whatever, I will just kill you and take back home as many pieces as I can.” Katsuki says taking his sword from the floor where he dropped it while checking the dragon’s mouth and raises it to strike the beast’s neck and get this shit over with.

Just as Katsuki goes to slice the dragon’s jugular, somehow the dragon disappears and in its place shows up a skinny boy stark naked crying and screaming.

“Dusont kill meey! Zont kill! Djiku no wants to die! Pwease! Pwease!”

Katsuki lowers his sword without noticing as he is completely stunned at the sight in front of him. It’s a boy. But it was a dragon. But now it’s a boy. The boy is skinny, looks to be around his age, has a big mop of dark green curly hair on top of its head, freckles scattered in the pale skin of his face, shoulders, and chest, and big green eyes. Very green. All shades of green. Exactly like the dragon’s.

“What the fuck? Who are you? Where is my dragon?” Katsuki furiously screams at the boy. This was not what he signed up for. He just wanted to hunt a dragon and bring his tooth back to show his mother he was ready to be First Warrior. But first the shitty dragon doesn’t have teeth and now he has to deal with a crying naked idiot that took place of his shitty dragon!

“Donty kill! Dontu! Pwease! Pwease!” The kid pleads while crying big fat tears.

“I will not kill you if you say where the fuck is my dragon, dipshit!”

“Me! Me Djiku! Djiku dragon! Don’t kill Djiku!”

“Deku? Useless? What kind of fucking name is that? And answer me straight! Where is my dragon?”

“Djiku is dragon! I’m dragon, don’t kill me! Please!”

What? Katsuki takes a step back looking around to see if there is any indication that he is being pranked by some evil spirit or something of sorts. But he finds nothing, just a boy in a pool of blood. Actually, the blood is still dripping down heavily from the boy’s arm. Bakugou gets closer again and pushes the boy’s body to the floor belly down so he can take a better look on his back.

And there it was, the huge wound his hook did. It started between the boy’s shoulder blades and goes down to the middle of his triceps. Fuck, his dragon transformed into a boy.

“How the fuck are you a boy? You were a fucking dragon five minutes ago!” Katsuki screams confusedly at the kid. He can’t kill a boy! He needs to kill a dragon! He is not a shitty asshole that kills people without being attacked first, that is not the kind of warrior he is going to be!

“I’m still a dragon. It's jut magic twu be buy and twu twalk!” The kid says looking at Katsuki with those big green eyes. The boy holds his wound with his other hand and mutters quietly to himself. “Tzalking is hard. With this tung. Tung. Tungue. Tongue. Tongue. Talking is hard with this tongue.”

“Wait, wait! Focus here! You are a dragon, right?” Katsuki says trying to make sense of the situation.

“Yez.” Deku nods making his curls bounce.

“And you have magic?” Another nod. “That allows you to become human?” He negates with his head.

“I’m not hooman, just appear hooman. For a whale.”

“Whale? You mean awhile? You can appear to be human for a little time but not a lot of time?” Deku nods again his confirmation. What the fuck? Why hasn’t anyone told him dragons could look like humans? Does no one from his village know that? “The other dragons can do that too?”

The boy nods again, “Yieah, but itz hard. Weve train magic. Be strong.”

That is the most incredible and crazy thing he has ever heard. Dragons have magic! They can transform into humans! And they can talk! The shittiest pronunciation Katsuki ever heard, but they can talk nonetheless! As Katsuki is thinking about the huge implications of his discovery, the boy falls to his side with closed eyes.

Shit, he is hurt. He probably passed out from too much blood loss! Fuck! He can’t let this shitty dragon die before Katsuki can find out absolutely everything he can about this!

“Shit. Okay. What do I do now?” He needs to stop the bleeding, make sure the boy doesn’t get too cold and take care of him for the night. He can do that, he is not only the strongest but the smartest warrior in his village. He learned a lot about first aid to use in battle when needed, so now was the time to put that shit into practice. He will not let this dragon die today.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> So, what do you guys think?  
> I can't promise regular updates to this fic since I don't have stored chapters to post, this will be a much more free-hand work than my other fics.  
> I hope you all enjoy it nonetheless, I intend to deliver a lot of shenanigans between our Barbarian Kacchan and Disaster-Dragon Deku!


	2. How to take care of a dragon

**How to take care of a dragon**

Bakugou spent the whole day nursing the boy/dragon back to health. He found fresh water in a small stream nearby, cleaned the wound, used his healing balm on the injury, and lost his marbles again when the passed-out boy went back to being a giant fucking lizard.

He was finishing applying the balm when the fucking thing just transformed in front of him. However, if a tree falls on the forest and no one hears, did it make a sound? If Katsuki screamed for his life and jumped 9 feet away when a huge dragon showed up in front of him and no one fucking heard, did it happen at all? No, it fucking didn't, you useless extra.

Interesting enough, even though the wound seems to be much bigger on the dragon form than it does on the human form, the balm still looks in place. Weird. Well, it's probably freaky dragon magic shit.

Katsuki also caught two very small fishes from the stream of water he found, they would have to be lunch and probably dinner since the lizard didn't look like it would be waking up anytime soon. His mother would kill him when Bakugou returned, but he needs to see this shit through now. He can't just leave, Deku could die and then what? Katsuki would lose his only chance to talk to a magic dragon!

So… how would he keep the dragon alive? He dressed its wounds, now what? If he was a human, the healers would do whatever it took to keep him warm. But aren't dragons cold blooded like lizards? Wait, that would make keeping it warm even more important! Fuck!

Katsuki puts his hand on the dragon’s shoulder and it does feel very cold to the touch. Shit. Alright, no panic, Katsuki would have to make a fire to cook his fish anyway, now he just had to make the fire close to the dragon and things should heat up soon enough. With that thought in mind, Bakugou gathers wood and kindling around and makes a neat pile. He lights up the fire using a couple of rocks and yes, it usually takes that many attempts to make a fire. Fires are temperamental bitches, you never know when they will show up at all, ok?

Fire crackling away, fish cooked and eaten, sun going down the horizon, and fucking Deku still hasn't woken up. Lazy dragon thinks he can sleep forever just because Bakugou is being graceful enough to take care of his useless ass? Shitty lizard. Bakugou runs his hand over the dragon’s good wing. He is small, but his wings are very big and strong, no wonder Katsuki couldn't bring him down at sea.

But Deku was still too cold to his touch, and with night creeping in it will only get colder. Katsuki puts more wood on the fire hoping it will keep burning the whole night and then he braces himself for what he will have to do. He will have to use his body to keep the dragon warm.

Bakugou has a disgusted look on his face when he pushes the dragon to his side, freeing space by the beast's belly. Relax, Katsuki, it is no different than sleeping by your horse when you are away traveling. It's a good way to keep you and the dragon warm, and you need to keep the shitty lizard alive. Yeah, it's no big fucking deal, he can do this shit.

Katsuki moves the dragon’s big paw out of the way and settles himself as the ‘small spoon’ on the floor. Shit, fuck. Ok, calm down. No freaking out. The dragon ain't going to eat you, the dragon is just a runt-looking brat who talks like a five-year-old. This shitty Deku wouldn't be able to eat the great Bakugou Katsuki even if he wanted. Which he doesn't, he is sure the fucking Deku doesn't want to eat him. He hopes.

Why would Deku even want to kill him? That makes no fucking sense. Sure, Bakugou invaded his territory and tried to kill him, but that was before Katsuki knew the dragon could talk! And look like a human! Certainly, things changed between them after that small fact came to light, right? 

Katsuki spent most of the night convincing himself the stupid Deku would not want to kill him when he recovered. If only he could hope that his mother would have as much mercy as the dragon…

…

Katsuki woke up warm and snuggled. He feels a nice weight in his whole body and feels someone's breath on his face. Someone's big breath. How can someone make so much wind just breathing? And since when he sleeps with anyone on his bed?

He opens his eyes lazily and it hits him. Not his bed. He is sleeping on the floor in a shitty island where he is taking care of a magic dragon. And said dragon is snuggling him! He can see the beast's huge head on top of his chest. Looking around he notices the dragon flipped to be on top of him and is hugging him as if Katsuki was a fucking teddy bear! Bakugou can't even move under the big lizard's weight!

“Oh, fucking fuck! How did you even… Is that drool?” And it surely was, the front of his shirt was wet with a small puddle of drool. Fucking disgusting as fuck. “Get off me now, you shitty Deku! Off! OFF!” 

Bakugou screamed hitting the dragon's head to make it release him. The beast scrunches his face as if a bug was annoying him. That pisses Bakugou even more. With a few kicks to his leg, finally Deku lets go and Katsuki rolls off from underneath the Dragon.

The dragon blinks a little with his big green eyes unfocused as if he was having a hard time waking up. Then he looks over Katsuki and gets a spooked expression (how can Bakugou identify a spooked expression on the lizard?)

“About time you woke up! You made me take care of your shitty ass the whole day yesterday!”  Katsuki barks at him and the beast just tilts his head like a confused overgrown puppy. “I did, you asshole! I put medicine on your wound and kept you warm! And what did you do on return? YOU FUCKING DROOLED ON ME!”

Deku turns his head to look at his injured wing and sees the light green healing balm on it. He flicks his nose trying to smell it then pokes his tongue out to taste. He makes the weirdest face after tasting the bitterness of the balm.

“You can't eat that, stupid! It's medicine! It's not made to be licked!” Katsuki screams. Weren't dragons supposed to be smart? This one was a complete moron! Whatever, he needs answers so he should start asking questions. “So, you can understand what I'm saying even in this form, right?”

The dragon nods in agreement and shit if he really doesn't look like an eager puppy. Why did Bakugou think this shitty lizard could eat him anyway?

“But you can't talk…”, the dragon nods again. “Well, we need to talk so just turn back into a human.”

The dragon closes his eyes and does a face of concentration. It's fucking cut… idiot! It's fucking idiot! “What's wrong with you? Are you gonna take a shit? I just asked for you to become human again, you useless Deku!”

As Bakugou finishes berating the dragon,  in front of him sits the boy again. Same unruly curly green hair, same freckles, same nakedness… 

“WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU NAKED?!” Katsuki screams turning away from the boy. “Shit, just… put this on”, Bakugou throws his cape at the idiot. He needs to be able to look at him to ask his questions, that is the only reason he is giving Deku his cape. “Are you dressed yet?”

“Yez”, says the meek voice behind him. 

The cape drowns the skinny boy in red fabric, he looks even smaller covering himself in it. Only his eyes appear huge, like they are too big for his head, looking suspiciously at Katsuki.

“Ok, Deku…”

“Djiku!”

“Yeah, I know you are Deku.”

“No! Djiiii… Djiii… Idjii” the boy tries the sounds in his mouth as if he was tasting something he never tried eating before. He looks very serious which contrasts with the funny movements his mouth and tongue make trying to properly enunciate what he wants. “Idjuku. I-dju-ku. Zu. Zu. I-zu-ku. Izuku! Izuku! My names iz Izuku!”

Bakugou blinks confused at what he just witnessed. “Yeah, whatever, I will keep using Deku. It suits you better, fucking toothless dragon.”

“I have tooth!” Deku pulls his lips open to show his perfectly white teeth. “Xee? Tchooth!”

“In this form you do! But I saw your disgusting dragon mouth! No teeth there!” 

“They hide in my mouth, but they still there! They come out to eat sometimes,” Deku says looking at Katsuki then looks down and starts muttering to himself. “But not all the times. Teeth are tricky. I'm sure I'm duin zomething wrong but dun know what. They should come out on theur uwn for hunting. Then I wouldn't be zou hungry and maybe I wouldn't catch bait, but goat smeelled good and no one ever lets me try hunting goat and sheep on my own. I know they are just tryin…”

“ENOUGH! OH MY GOD! How can you talk so fucking much?! Damn, fucking babbling mouth dragon!” Deku looks at him scared with huge eyes again. “I'm the one asking questions here! So I will ask and you will answer without the fucking muttering, alright?”

“If Izuku answers questions, human don't kill me?” The boy asks skeptic.

“Exactly. You answer all my questions and I let you live. Understood?” The boy nods again and Katsuki sits down in front of him. This shit is probably going to take a while. “Great. So you are a dragon that can appear human using magic and all other dragons can also do that. Right?”

“Yez. But it iz hard to keep hooman for long time. I train a lot sou I can keep umost half a day. But I never could talk to hoomans, sou it's difficull to sey words.”

“So that is why you sound like a moron.” The boy looks insulted by Katsuki's comment, but fuck him. He does sound like a moron. “And why no one knows dragons can do that? I never heard of such a thing, and I know everything important in my village.” Katsuki says cockily. No, not cocky, self-assured.

“Hoomans scawy. Dragons are forbidden to show them magic or else hoomans may try to kill and enslave us.” Deku says with a pout. 

“The fuck we would! You assholes are the ones that steal our sheep and wreck our boats!” Bakugou barks.

“You would! We turn boots to keep hoomans away from our home! Hoomans scawy! They hurt dragons and they hurt each other!” The dragon screams back at him.

“We don't hurt each other!”

“Yez you do! Invade other hoomans homes! We see it!”

“Only shitty humans do that! No Viking under my mother's rule is allowed to pillage! We make our living from the land, and this shit would be much easier without shitty dragons stealing our sheep!”

“You can't own sheep, hooman! It's nut like a cave, the sheep is alive!”

“Yes, we can! It's called herding, moron! We own the sheep we breed!” 

Deku looks at him confused, shrugs his shoulders and says “That meeks no sense at ull. Hoomans can't spect us to know hoomans think they own live things.”

Bakugou runs his hands over his face exasperated. Idiotic dragon couldn't understand the concept of owning sheep. Okay, let's try a different approach.

“Alright, and the magic shit. How does it work?”

“Magic? It just...works?” The boy inclines his head exactly as he had done in dragon form, making his curls bounce a little on top of his head.

“But how? What can you do? Can you transform in other shit or just humans? Can you make shit float or create fire? I don’t know! Just tell me what you can do with it!”

“It’s nut the same for every dragon. My frund can make things float, but I cannut. Another frund of mine can make fire and ice appear. And we all can transform into hoomans but not any other living thing. When transforming in hoomans it’s hard to make magic to appear in ways not like our mental self-image, but can do it eef try hard enuff.”

“What? You can transform into a different human form? So why would you choose to be this shitty little runt with stupid hair?”

“Mental self-image, that is how my brain sees itself as hooman. I can do another form, but it’s very similar. Look.” And he closes his eyes and focuses again, after a few moments he opens his eyes and says, “See?”

“See what? You haven’t changed at all, idiot!” 

“Yez, I did!” He says opening Katsuki’s red cape to show the curve of his… breasts? WHAT THE FUCK?! FUCKING NAKED BOY BECAME FUCKING NAKED GIRL! “WHAT THE FUCK?! COVER THAT SHIT?! WHY WOULD YOU SHOW THAT TO ME?! WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM?! DO YOU WANNA DIE, ASSHOLE?” Katsuki screams with his eyes closed and throwing blind punches in front of him that with any luck would knock out the moronic dragon.

“Calm down, hooman! I transformed back!” Izuku says and begins muttering again. “Hoomans dun like seeing hoomans frum diffent genders, that is strange…” 

Katsuki opens just one eye and sees the flat plane of a boy’s chest where there were boobs before. The idiot is still half-naked, but it is a little better. “Close the cape back up, asshole.”

“If hooman prefer, I could transform with clothes like hooman.” Deku says matter-of-factly.

“What? You could have been dressed the whole fucking time?!”  This fucking stupid moron! What the fuck is wrong with this asshole?! The idiot just nods and closes his eyes. When he flutters his big green eyes open again, the boy opens the cape to show he is using a white rough cotton shirt just like Katsuki’s and dark green pants. “Give me back my cape!”

Deku motions to take the cape out of his back, but he winces at the movement. Oh yeah, the asshole is still hurt. 

“How is your injury? Do you need more healing balm?” Katsukis asks begrudgingly taking his red cape back.

“I don’t know… Ve neva used this balm befor.” Izuku says trying to look at his back. “But I’m ungry…”

“Alright, I will get us fucking food but just because I still have more questions and you can’t answer them if you are dead, ok?”

…

Bakugou goes back to the stream to catch more fish with his mind running wild. So it’s all true, his brain was not playing games with him, the fucking dragon could become human. Deku answered a bunch of question, but shit every response just made more questions pop into Katsuki’s head! Now he wanted to know what other kinds of powers the other dragons have, what do they use them for, how do they live, how do they communicate with each other, so many things that he has to know!

Right now, for example, he has to know how much the fucking dragon eats. Are his nourishment needs affected by what kind of form he is on? Could the little skinny boy eat a whole sheep by himself like dragons usually could? How many fish should Bakugou bring back to the camp? 

Luckily the stupid fishes were easy to catch when they got stuck between the stream’s bank and a big rock. Katsuki took four of them, two for each. Maybe, if Deku asked nicely, Bakugou would let him have three since the idiot is healing. Katsuki wraps the fishes in a big leaf he found around and goes back to their little camp site.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Katsuki screams when he sees the stupid dragon trying to climb a tree. “You are gonna bust your wound open again, moron! I will not let you screw up all the hard work I did yesterday keeping you alive, dipshit!”

Izuku jumps back to the floor looking sheepish (hehe, a dragon looking like a sheep, that is fucking hilarious). “I jiust wanted to pick sum frut”, the boy points at the big juicy fruit dangling on top of the tree, they look like mangos. “I’m ungry!”

“You can eat fruit? Whatever, I brought us fish. Don’t go around moving too much, it will make your fucking injury worse.” Katsuki says picking more wood around to turn the fire on again.

“I ike frut. They ar sweet and dlicious. And my wound will be almost good by nightfall, dragons heel quiky, silly hooman.”

“Bakugou Katsuki. That is my name, not ‘hooman’, fucking Deku. And good to know about your healing abilities, I need to go home soon before my mom kills me.” Katsuki finishes putting the wood on the pile and begins trying to make some fire.

Izuku’s eyes get impossibly big, “Your muther kill you? See! Hoomans dangerous! Hoomans scawy!”

“No, idiot! It’s just a way of saying it! She will not actually kill me! Just... nag me enough that I will wish I was dead.” Bakugou says rolling his eyes.

“Oh. My mum… kills me like that sum times too…” Izuku sits close to Bakugou looking very interested in the way he makes the fire. “Why do you have two names if you are just one hooman?”

“What? I don’t have two names!” Katsuki looks up and meets the inquisitive green eyes. “Bakugou is my family name.”

“But I dun wanna call ur whole family”, Izuku says doing that little stupid head move he does when he is confused.

“No, fucking idiot. Family name is just to identify the fuckers in the same family. Whatever, just call me Bakugou.” Katsuki rolls his eyes at the boy’s ignorance and finally manages to make the kindling catch fire.

“No! I dun wanna call ur family! They are scawy! Your mum kills you with nagging!” Izuku complains loudly.

“Don’t scream at me, you little shit! Bakugou Katsuki is my name, you are not calling anyone else when you use it!”

“I don’t know… I think I'll just call you Kaz… Kacchan… Kazu… Kaskuki!”

“Katsuki”, Bakugou says without taking his eyes out of the fish he is gutting and putting in sticks to cook it.

“Kaszuti.”

“Katsuki.”

“Kaztuti.”

“Katsu… Whatever, take this!” He gives the boy one of the sticks with the fish. “Cook it, eat it, stop annoying me.”

They sit close to the fire, Deku looks closely at Katsuki, mimicking his moves to cook the fish.

“Why are ee doing dis?” He says looking skeptic at the fish.

“To eat, moron.”

“Why dun ee just… eat?”

Bakugou raises an eyebrow to the boy, “raw?”

“Like...that?” He says biting in the raw fish. “Eat fishy.”

“If you want to eat that shit raw, knock yourself out, Deku. I'm cooking mine. By the way, how much do you even eat? Will this be enough?”

“It's nuff for now. I can get mor fishy later.” He says munching away satisfied.

“You said your injury will get better soon. When will you be able to fly out of this island?”

Deku moves his arm around wincing a little at the pain. “Maybe… three days? It seems to be ealing faster with your balm.”

“So will you be ok if I go back home today? I could take you to another island with more dragons in my boat if no shitty dragon tries killing me.” Katsuki asks earnestly.

“Yez, Izuku will be okay. I cannut go back home hurt. Frunds will be mad. I'm used to be alone in islands.”

“Alright, I will come back in a few days when I manage to get the old hag out my case. What do you say about us meeting here again in five days?”

Izuku tilts his head as a confused puppy again, “Why?”

“Because I have more questions, idiot! I told you I wouldn't kill you if you answered all my questions! That shit still stands! If you don't show up back here in five days I will hunt you down again! You hear me, stupid Deku?”

“Alright, Kazbuki.” Izuku says with a big smile on his face that totally doesn't make him look cute and didn't make Katsuki blush at all.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: I will take my time with this fic, I will try to post twice a week like Caught Up.
> 
> Also me: *finishes writing the chapter in one afternoon and can't wait a second to post it*
> 
> Yeah, I have issues. Plz send help.


	3. How to meet a dragon

**How to meet a dragon**

“Bro! Where were you? Your mother is furious! I’ve been covering for you but by now I think she already figured it out that you are not training Kaminari for a sheep herding competition!” Kirishima Eijirou, Katsuki’s most annoying affiliate, runs to him as soon as Katsuki pulls his tiny boat out of the water. The red-head is wearing his usual clothes, a red dyed cotton shirt, black trousers, boots, and a black vest. 

“What? Why the fuck would I be helping Kaminari to train for a sheep herding competition?” Katsuki says in complete disbelief to his idiotic friend. “Since when we have such moronic competitions? And why would I know how to herd sheep?!” Bakugou screams at him. Trust the dumbass to come up with the most unbelievable excuse he ever heard.

“I don’t know, bro! She asked about you yesterday afternoon and I panicked!” The young man tries to explain himself while following Bakugou towards the village. “Did you get the tooth?” Kirishima asks anxiously. They have been talking about how to get their tooth for years and he was the only one who knows where Katsuki went yesterday at dawn.

“Shut up, Shitty Hair! I’m busy right now, I need to get home before the old hag finds out!” Katsuki says running out of the beach. No way he can say to his village friend that he had a dragon under his sword but failed to deliver the final blow. 

What would he even say? Probably would think Bakugou went crazy and tell his mom. They would lock him up in his room to rot and wouldn’t allow him to go back to talk to Deku. He had to keep the dragon’s magic a secret for now, at least until he could really understand everything it entails.

“Wait up, bro! Talk to me! What happened? Why did you take so long?” Eijirou runs after him until he was keeping up by Bakugou’s side.

“Ahn… There was no dragon. I stopped in a small island in the border of their territory for a whole day, but no dragon showed up.” He hates lying, Bakugou Katsuki doesn’t have to lie! He is brave and has the guts to tell shit straight. However, he needs to buy more time before he can tell anyone about his discoveries.

“Oh… I guess that makes sense. The damn lizards are all cooped up in their big island, right?”

“Yeah… probably. I don’t fucking know. I’ll try again in a few days when I manage to get the hag off my back.” Well, since he is already lying, he might as well set up the terrain for when he goes back to talk to Deku in 5 days.

“That is so manly, bro! It’s great how dedicated you are to becoming a warrior and protecting our village!” Kirishima says with a huge smile.

“Yeah, whatever. Now get lost before the old hag sees you.” Katsuki says when they approach his house.

He lives with his parents in the center of the village. It’s a two-story house, at least that is what his mother tells him when he complains his bedroom is an attic. In the first floor they have a big room that serves as kitchen, dining room and living room, his parent’s bedroom and a small study where his mother keeps important books and documents. In the back there is a little annexed room that serves as his father’s workshop. It’s one of the biggest and nicest houses in the village since Bakugou Mitsuki is the chief and they have to show strength to the Earls of other villages.

However, it is a house that is very difficult to sneak in since it is in the fucking middle of the village surrounded by commerce and people! Even worse, the village hall (where they have banquets and his mother talks to the citizens and her advisors) is just half a block away so no wonder that he hears the old hag’s banshee screams as soon as he gets twenty feet away from home.

“NOW, WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU, DAMN BRAT? And if you tell me any shit about sheep herding competition I swear to the Gods that you will be working as a shepherd until the next blood moon!" 

Bakugou Mitsuki is a sight to behold. She is a tall and strong woman whose face doesn’t betray her age not even in the slightest. She wears two small fishtail braids on the left side of her shoulder-length hair and is usually dressed as if she is ready for battle in dark brown pants, a cream cotton shirt, and a leather armor without sleeves on top of her shirt. In her chest hangs five big dragon teeth, each one taken from a different beast.

“I was fucking training, old hag. What the fuck would I be doing?” Katsuki grunts wanting nothing more than to make a run towards his house but, no matter how strong and powerful he is, he knows Mitsuki would catch him without breaking a sweat.

“What the fuck kind of training takes over a goddamn day?! I know you didn’t even sleep at home, brat!” The woman crosses her arms and looks intimidatingly to her son.

“Survival training, fucking banshee! I need to know how to survive in the damn woods if I need to!” It’s not a complete lie, he did train his surviving skills while camping on the island… with a magic dragon.

“If you keep disappearing like that I’m gonna fucking nail your feet to the Great Hall’s floor! Now go talk to your father because he was worried sick about you!” And she doesn’t have to utter another word for Katsuki to make a swift retreat to his house.

That was just round one, he knows the fucking hag will keep nagging and keeping track of him for days until he is totally off the hook. One would think he was a fucking damsel in distress and not the strongest warrior of their village from the amount of bullshit he had to endure. 

But Katsuki still went to the back of the house to greet his father in the man’s little workshop since his father was a fucking saint to put up with his mother. Bakugou Masaru is a tailor, he makes shirts and trousers like everybody else but what really makes him stand apart are his leather armors, like the one his mother uses. They are beautifully crafted and very strong, Katsuki himself has one but it’s already too small for him. His father offered to make him a new one, but Katsuki will only accept it when he becomes a real warrior.

“Hey there, champ! Your mother and I were worried about you. Are you alright?” The older man says kindly when Bakugou enters the workshop.

“I’d be better if the old had hadn’t screamed until my ears bled just now”, Katsuki answers grumpily kicking dirt around the crowded little room.  

“She was just very scared of what could have happened to you. You know Earl Shigaraki is stirring trouble in the west.”

“As if I am afraid of that crusty fucker! He can come for me any day and I’ll send him packing!” Bakugou snarls at the mention of the disgusting Earl of one of the west villages. The asshole has been pillaging and raiding smaller villages even against the Earls’ Council’s decision. 

“I know, I know… But that doesn’t make us worry any less, we are parents. That is just our job”, Masaru says with a sweet smile and Katsuki just grunts in acknowledgement. He bids his father goodbye and goes to his room to think about everything he found out about the dragons in his expedition. There, laying in his bed Bakugou decides he needs to know more, he needs to know everything there is to know about dragons and their magic.

…

In the fourth day after his return, Katsuki finally manages to appease his mother enough to go talk to his professor. Aizawa is a sadistic asshole that gets his kicks out of annoying Bakugou to death, but he is the one with the biggest knowledge about things in general in their village. If anyone had an inkling about dragon magic in their area, it would be him.  Aizawa was the one who taught Bakugou and his friends how to read and write, and how to be warriors. Their village didn’t believe that warriors should only hone their axes and not their brains, in Mitsuki’s village the warriors were the most educated of all.

The man lives up in a hill, far away from the village’s center, with his partner Yamada. His sensei’s partner is a bard and makes way too much noise for Katsuki’s liking, so the young wannabe-warrior never pays house calls to his teacher if he can avoid it. This time, however, he can’t avoid it. He needs to find out if Aizawa knows anything about the dragons being able to shapeshift without letting the man find out about Bakugou’s little secret.

Bakugou knocks hard on the door of the little house on the top of a pretty green hill.

“Wake up, asshole! I need to talk to you!” Katsuki screams while making the door shake on its hinges. A few moments later Aizawa comes to the door looking as sleep deprived as always. The man dresses all in black and uses a white scarf around his neck that usually hides the three dragon teeth he has hanging from a leather string on his neck.

“What do you want, problem child?” Aizawa asks very much not amused.

“I have a question for you, and you have to answer it. That is your job, right? Fill me up with knowledge and shit?” Bakugou says pushing his way into the house.

“Interesting, because from what I see you are already way too full of shit to fit any more knowledge in.” The older man says defeated. As he retreats back to his house, Katsuki is already sitting on a chair with his feet up on the table and stealing an apple from his fruit basket. Aizawa is not paid enough to deal with this bullshit. “So, ask away. The sooner we do this, the sooner you leave.”

“What do you know about dragons, old man?” Katsuki asks while taking a bite of the apple.

“They are big flying lizards that steal our sheep and make a mess. Why?”

“No, I mean… Some dragons can breathe fire, right? Or acid, one that my mom killed could spit acid. Do they have any more abilities? What the fuck can they do?” Katsuki asks annoyed.

Aizawa takes a deep breath and sits down, “you should know that. I’m pretty sure we went through dragons’ fighting abilities during class.”

“Fuck you! I remember everything we talked in class! But it was too general! ‘Some dragons can breathe fire, some have poison, some have acid. They don’t usually use their power unless they are attacked. When hunting a dragon, be aware they may use unforeseen abilities’. That is shit! I need more information!”

“There is no more information.” Aizawa shrugs, “all we have are accounts from the people who killed them. And that is a very problematic information source since people usually exaggerate the abilities of the dragons they fought and we only receive information about dragons that could be killed.”

“So you are saying we know shit about the strongest dragons. We don’t even know if the ones we encountered on land or on the sea are the strongest. And we don’t know if dragons can have any special abilities… like… magic?” Bakugou asks seriously.

“You are right, we don’t… However… There are some old books that talk about dragons being magic beings… It makes a little sense if you think about the fire, no other living creature can produce fire from their bodies… Nonetheless, it’s not like a dragon will just give us the information we need… Why are you even asking that, Bakugou?” Aizawa asks with an eyebrow raised.

“No fucking reason, asshole. I’m just going anyway. See you whenever”, Katsuki says running out of his professor's house before the man could ask him any more incriminating questions. This whole deal he had with Deku is even more important than he thought! No one knows anything about dragons, Bakugou needs to find out everything he can about it and be the first human to understand dragon magic.

…

Dawn of the day Katsuki promised to go back to talk to Izuku finds Bakugou pushing his tiny boat into the water again. He told Kirishima he was going back to the dragon’s archipelago, which wasn’t a lie, but promised he would return on that same night. There was no way he could get away with sleeping out of his house, his mother would really nail him to the floor if he did.

The trip to the tiny island was just as long as the first time and when Katsuki pulled his boat to the sand the sun was already high in the sky. He found the skinny boy in the same clothes he was using last time sitting in a rock in the middle of the small beach.

“Hi, Kaszuki! Youz came back.” The boy-dragon says as if he was really impressed with that fact.

“Of course I did! Told you I had fucking questions that you would answer. Now let’s get out of this sun, it’s fucking killing me.” Bakugou says making way for the cooler shadow of the trees, out of the scalding sand.

“Hoomans don’t like sun… Why would thot bee? Arez they more noquiturn animals? But that dunn explainz why they always out in the day… How can they like and not like sun at the same time?” Katsuki hears Deku’s small voice muttering behind him. Fucking stupid dragon never heard about sunburn.

“How is your shitty wing? Can you fly again?” Bakugou remembers Deku saying he heals fast and the viking wants to assess how fast that is. A wound like that would take months to fully heal in a human.

“Itz a wittle pain, butz I can fly”, Deku answers while pulling the loose collar of his shirt to show an angry red scarring wound on his shoulder blade. It really looked impossibly better, the boy was not lying when he said he would heal fast.

They sit down by the tree line of the shore and Katsuki pulls two small loaves of bread and some pieces of salted sheep meat. He puts one of the loaves in Deku’s hand and proceeds to have his lunch. Bakugou ate just a piece of cheese and some nuts before leaving his house in ass o’clock in the morning (actually, it could have been ass o’clock in the night still), so the young viking was starving.

“I didn’t feel like wasting time cooking fish. We will not have a lot of time to talk since it will take me almost a quarter of a day to go back home, and if I stay another night out my mother will castrate me.”

Deku barely hears what Katsuki is saying since he is too busy examining the bread as if he had never seen one of those before.

“Whatz this? And whatz castrate?” The boy asks confused.

“This is fucking bread, it’s to eat, idiot. And to castrate is to fucking cut your balls off,” Katsuki says with his mouth full of bread. Izuku takes a tiny bite of the bread and his eyes grow huge with excitement, he immediately takes another big chunk of his bread.

“Diz is xou gud! I wuv dis! An why yur mum wantz yu blind?” Having a mouth full of bread didn’t help the dragon’s ability to enunciate words in the slightest, but what really got Katsuki was the fact that the fucking lizard thought about the wrong balls.

“Not my eyeballs, stupid. My balls balls.” The boy tilts his head to express the fact he has no idea what Bakugou is talking about. “You know, idiot! You have those! The things between your legs!”

“The dangling thingies? But where wud you keep yur pee?” Deku asks completely confused and Katsuki blushes up to his ears. Fuck, he doesn’t want to have this conversation with the dragon. But now he is curious to know why he doesn’t understand the concept of balls! Don’t dragons have balls! Wait, do dragons have dicks?

“Balls are not for keeping piss, stupid lizard. They keep the… ahn… the seed to make babies, you know?” Katsuki explains without being able to meet the shiny green eyes full of doubts. Katsuki had finished his bread at this point, so he goes for a piece of salted meat.

“Oh… An whyz the other form of hoomans don’t hav those?”

“What other form of humans?” Bakugou asks confused, and Izuku just shows with his hands the shape of boobs in front of his chest. “The girls? Why would girls have balls, dipshit?”

“To make babies?” Izuku asks shrugging.

“That is not… arght! What the fuck? They are female! Only males have balls!” Bakugou looks at the boy and finds just a puzzled expression. “Don’t dragons have males and females too?”

“Nun, those iz hooman things. Ours brains kinda knuw if we boy or girl when he shifts to hooman, but it can change. And Dragon body has no differenss between them.” 

“So how do you make your… ahn… babies?” Katsuki asks and now it’s Deku’s turn to blush a vivid red.

“Itz juss… Two dragons get together, mix ther seed, make babies.” Deku explains going for a piece of salted meat like Katsuki. Serves the fucker right, at least Bakugou is not the only one to feel uncomfortable with this conversation. But as weird as it is, it is also the first time a viking finds out about dragon’s procreation and the fuckers have only one sex! That is crazy! No wonder Deku didn’t have qualms about shifting into a girl, he barely understands the differences between men and women.

“Well, for humans you need a male and a female to make a baby. Men have their balls hanging out of their bodies, women have something similar inside their bellies. And babies grow where the female’s balls are, that is why sometimes women walk around with huge bellies.”

Deku listens to his explanation completely appalled, “that sunds disgusting. Dragon babies gruw in eggs. After baby seed is mixed, un dragon lays the egg.” He takes another bite of the salted meat, “but this is good! Whatz dis, Katchuki?”

“It’s salted meat, we make it by… Wait a fucking minute, shitty dragon! I’m the one who asks questions here! Don’t get me sidetracked, dipshit! And I’m going to have to leave soon, we don’t have time for this shit. Next meeting you are not going to get not even one fucking answer out of me!” Bakugou screams at the boy who just looks at him interested.

“We duin dis again, Kabuki?”

“Of course! From the amount of fucking time I waste to even get here, we are going to have to meet several times until I get all my answers!”

“We culdz meet closer to viking island, Kuzkuti. I can fly fster then yu can swim.” 

“First of all, I don’t fucking swim. I sail, dweeb. But that could be a better solution… You can’t get too close or else the fishermen will spot you…” Bakugou says deep in thought, “maybe the Turtle Island? The sea there runs too fast so the fisherman can’t fish in that area, but it’s just shy of 2 hours from the village…”

“Iz the island that haz the sheip of a turtle? I know that un.” 

“So I guess we have a fucking deal, Deku. We meet in Turtle Island in three days, or else I will come down to hunt you again, understood?” Katsuki gives a pointed look to get his threat clear, and the boy just nods his head making his curls bounce.

They keep talking for an extra hour before Katsuki decides he really needs to go back home. Both of them debate a little more about the differences in the feeding habits of dragons and humans. For instance, dragons don’t cook but they are omnivorous. Deku says dragons usually eat fish and fruits, but that they can hunt land animals. At least, most dragons can, Deku’s voice falters when he mentions in passing that he isn’t allowed to hunt land animals. But as the sun tells Katsuki it’s time to leave, the young viking decides he will drill Deku about that in their next meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a big conversation about balls ?!  
> Anyway, I hope I made it clear how these dragons sexuality works. Basically they are intersex but PLEASE don't forget that this bizarre dragon sexuality doesn't represent IN ABSOLUTELY NO WAY anything about the complexities of human sexuality. This is just a gag to make Izuku get lost in gender roles.  
> If anyone has any doubt about it, ask away and I will answer :)))


	4. How to talk to a dragon

**How to talk to a dragon**

On the scheduled day, Bakugou Katsuki took his faithful tiny boat at dawn towards Turtle Island. This island was significantly bigger than the one he and Deku had been meeting, but it was still considered very small and the strong currents that surround it guarantee no Viking usually goes there.

It was not easy to brave the currents in the shitty boat Katsuki uses, but he managed it because he is a fucking great warrior and sailor and nothing will stand in his way, not even some stupid waves. As he puts his boots on the sand, he looks around for the familiar green mop head of Deku but finds no one around. Maybe he landed somewhere else? Bakugou walks around in the small island looking for the green-haired boy, however the dragon is nowhere to be found. With nothing else to do, the Viking sits down underneath a palm tree and waits for the dragon. 

Did fucking Deku stand him up? Katsuki is fuming with anger and denial.  No way the stupid dragon has the gal to blow off Bakugou! They have an understanding! If Deku dares to not show up, that is fucking it. Magic or not, Katsuki will gather a party of warriors and destroy the motherfucking lizards! Being toothless won’t even matter anymore because Katsuki will wear Deku's fucking skull around…

Then Katsuki sees it far away on the horizon. From this distance, it looks like a black bird, maybe a crow. However when it got closer, Katsuki could see how fucking gorgeous Deku was flying free. His black hide sparkled green, where the sun rays touched him it looked like a bright amethyst. But as the shadows crept in his body the dragon's scales got gradually darker until the bottom of its wings looked like it was made of black onyx. Even the immensity of the blue sky can’t outweigh the beauty of the flying dragon.

He flies with a grace that the klutzy boy doesn't show in his movements while in human form, fluid and light. His wing looks like it is completely healed since the dragon doesn't seem to be favoring the other one. However, all the magical finesse seems to vanish as Deku clearly miscalculates his landing, approaches the beach too quickly and stumbles on the sand in a black flip. 

Sand goes flying everywhere, when the dust settles Katsuki sees Deku buried to his belly in the ground with soft sand pouring down every surface of his body. The image of the big black dragon trying to get sand out of his mouth (big tongue out trying to lick his paws just to find out there is even more sand in them) is enough to make Katsuki's anger turn to unstoppable laughter.

“You idiot! You must be the worst dragon in existence! You don't have teeth and you can't even land!” Katsuki says between bursts of laugh. The dragon just sits down on the sand looking annoyed at him, then turns into human form keeping the same annoyed expression. 

“I was juss distracted! Itz scarry to land so close to a hooman!”

“So you are still afraid of me? Good, you should!” Katsuki begins retreating back to the palm tree's shadow and Izuku follows him. “Are all dragons afraid of humans?”

They sit down and Deku takes a few moments to think before answering.

“I dunn think so? All dragons know hoomans are dangerous, but some of us dunn like the idea of running away from hoomans. However, what we think dunn matter. The elders decided that we aren't allowed close to hoomans, so we all obey.”

“So you are breaking the rules by talking to me?” Izuku nods in agreement looking down at his feet a little ashamed. “Is that why you were late?”

“Nun… I was late because my mum was killing me with nagging. She saw the injury in my wing and got worried.”

“Oh”, the idiot had a doting mother who worried about him. And Katsuki almost killed him. That put things in perspective, it is hard to believe he was about to kill someone who had a mother waiting for them to return. “My mother also gave me a hard time. One would think the village chief would have better things to do than to fucking babysit me.”

“Yu’re the chief's son? So yu’re a princess?” Deku asks with inquisitive eyes.

“WHAT?! What the fuck are you saying, idiot?! I'm a warrior! I’m going to be the First Warrior and protect my village!” Bakugou screams back his face beet red in anger (not embarrassment). 

“A warrior? Amazing, Katchuski!” The boy's face lights up in childish wonder.

“Hell yeah, it’s amazing. I’m the best fighter in the whole village, and my village has the best fighters of all. I’m the best with sword, axe and spear. My aim with the bow and arrow is always on point, but I prefer getting close to slash down my enemies!” Katsuki says smiling maniacally while he pretends to slice enemies with an imaginary sword in front of them. Izuku watches all with stars on his eyes, but then looks down sad.

“Wow! That is really amazing… I wanna be a warrior too, but I can't…”, the boy says with a small voice and tear-filled eyes.

“You can't?! Why the fuck not?!” For Katsuki, whose whole life has been surrounded by warriors, it’s baffling that someone may not be one. Sure, people in his village had other trades, but they were all warriors at heart. Even his father who had the gentlest and kindest of hearts would pick up a sword to defend their home.

“Yu know why… I'm useless” the dragon says as big fat tears run down his chubby cheeks. Bakugou is lost in what to do, he doesn’t do  _ tears _ . No one around him cries! He hates it, hates the sight of the stupid dragon crying. Sure, he may be a useless dragon but that is no reason to cry, is it? Wait! The stupid lizard is not actually completely useless, he is helping Katsuki understand how dragon magic works! Yeah, that is a good utility for the idiotic beast!

“Oi, idiot! That’s enough with the waterworks, you stupid cry-baby!” Bakugou says but Deku just cries even harder. “Fuck… you are not useless! You are teaching me about dragons and magic, ain’t you?”

“Bu-but my tee-teeth dun work and and my qui-quirk dun wo-work. An-and I can’t hu-hunt, mom is al-always worried, my fr-friends dun let me go out with-with them.” Deku explains between hiccups and sobs. Now his nose is running, his face is red and he is the most disgusting sight Katsuki has ever seen.

“Hey, now. Calm the fuck down, okay? Explain this shit to me properly. Your only utility is to teach me shit, and you can’t do that in this crying fucking mess. Why don’t your teeth work and what is a quirk?”

Izuku wipes his face in his sleeve (yeah, that was even more disgusting), takes a few deep breaths and tries explaining, “my teeth… they retract inside my gums. They should come out when hunting and fighting, but sumtimes I can’t make them come out at all. So I’m not very reliable for hunting food for the flock. And quirks are ur special powers… I told yu my friend could create fire and ice, it’s like that.”

“So every dragon has a… quirk? Do they work in their human forms too? What is your quirk?”

“Yez, everyone has their own quirk. It should work in any form, but we’d have to train hard to use it in hooman form. My quirk is… we dun have a word for it? But my body glows and I get faster and stronger… However, I can’t control it. Sumtimes it comes too strong and it hurts me, sumtimes it doesn’t come at all when I call for it.” Izuku explains playing with the sand with his hands, the boy clearly has anxiety in talking about this. Tough luck, Bakugou wants to know more.

“That sounds like a good quirk, but it is pretty useless if you can’t control it”, Katsuki says thinking to himself. He wants to see dragon magic working, but if Deku can’t control it, maybe it is too dangerous to ask for him to show it. But when will Bakugou have another chance like that? This is ‘once in a lifetime’ kinda shit! “I know one way to fix this shit, Deku!”

Izuku looks at him with huge shiny eyes, “yu do?”

“Sure, I’ll help you train to control your powers!” Bakugou says with resolve.

“But.. duyu even know how?” Deku looks skeptic at him.

“Are you fucking looking down on me, idiotic lizard? Haven’t I just explained to you how I know everything there is to know about hunting and fighting?! Or did your tiny brain already forgot that?! I can certainly train an useless dragon like you to use his powers, or my name isn’t Bakugou Katsuki!” The young Viking finishes his declaration with his fist punching upwards and a look of determination on his face. 

Izuku looks mesmerized at the blond, then tackles him in a hug. 

“Thank yu, thank yu, thank yu Batsusky! You are the most amazing hooman of all!”, the dragon says with a deadly strong grip around Bakugou’s waist, too strong for someone so small and skinny. 

“Wha-? Let go!” Katsuki tries prying himself off the dragon’s hug, “Get off me, idiot! And at least learn my fucking name! That shit you just said doesn’t sound remotely like it!”

Izuku releases his hold, sits back down by Bakugou’s side and looks up to the other boy with big shiny green eyes, “Kaztuski?”

“Katsuki.”

“Kasutuki?”

“Ka-tsu-ki!”

“Ka-bus-ki!”

“Arght!” the viking facepalms. “You know what? Try this… Ka… chan.”

“Kacchan”, Izuku enunciates perfectly.

“Fuck it, let’s go with that. I just can’t keep hearing you butcher my name over and over again, fucking Deku.”

“Izuku, Kacchan, my name is Izuku.”

“Did I ask shit? Shut up, Deku!”

…

“Okay, we are starting with your teeth”, Bakugou says looking at the black dragon in front of him.  Deku transformed back into dragon so they can begin training, it seemed to make more sense to train the boy in dragon form since he said the powers and abilities should come more easily in his natural shape. “It seems to be too idiotic that a dragon doesn’t have teeth so we oughta fix that first. Open your mouth.”

Izuku is sitting down on his hind legs, so his face is basically at the same height as Katsuki's head. The dragon opens his mouth widely, rolling his big tongue out. Bakugou gets very close, totally ignoring he is shoving his head inside a dragon's mouth,  and starts probing the lizard's gums. Izuku makes some gurgling sounds and squirms, moving away from Bakugou's ministrations.

“Stop it, idiot! Let me examine you!” Katsuki takes a step forward and goes back to proding his gums. He finds little slit curs where he supposes Deku's teeth should come out, so he begins pressing harder at it to see if something happens. 

Izuku makes more complaining noises and moves his head to get Bakugou to stop. “Quit it, you big baby! I just… wanna… see…”, at this point, Bakugou is holding the dragon's ear with one hand and poking his gums with the other. Deku whines louder, “Does it hurt when I do that?” and Katsuki stabs the soft gum with his nail to which Deku pulls his head away brusquely with a crying sound but at the same time the dragon's teeth finally come out.

“Ha! I did it! Let me see!” Bakugou grabs the dragon's head again to finally look at the teeth. “Not too shabby, idiot”, and it wasn't. Deku's teeth were perfect, not so big but very pointy and ridiculously white. They looked brand new, probably because there were hidden away most of the time.

But just as quick as they came, the teeth went back inside. “Ok, so you really have teeth. Now you just need to learn to bring them out when you want it, that should be easy.”

It was not easy.

They spent the whole day with Katsuki screaming and Izuku making sad and confused noises. No matter what Bakugou told the useless dragon to try, Deku couldn't do it. When they tried hunting, since the dragon had said his teeth should come naturally in a hunt, Izuku just ended up catching fishes in his mouth and almost swallowing them alive (to Katsuki’s complete disgust). 

They spent the whole day trying different things to give Izuku control of his teeth and not a single time Izuku managed to force his teeth out. It was very draining for both of them, Katsuki left the island furious and Izuku left the island hopeless. They scheduled to try again in three days and Bakugou would be damned if he hasn't come up with a solution until then.

…

Next day, Katsuki is unleashing his anger and frustration on his favorite target - the most idiotic Viking to walk the face of the earth, Kaminari Denki. Kaminari is the same age as Bakugou and Kirishima, and the three of them plus Sero Hanta have been training together since they were in diapers. For some reason, the three stooges think that entitles them the position of ‘Katsuki’s friends’. Bakugou would prefer describing them as ‘moving training dummies’.

Aizawa comes down from his hill no more than a couple times a week to oversee their training nowadays. They are supposedly old enough so that the old teacher doesn’t have to give classes about basic combat, reading, history and the works. The rest of the days the three young Vikings were supposed to train on their own in order to develop as full Viking Warriors of their tribe. 

They pair up to spar with sword, axe, spear and fists, in order to keep all their abilities top notch. The four of them change partners and weapons daily to try to master everything they can. But as we see Kaminari panting and buffing, barely keeping up with Katsuki’s relentless onslaught, it is clear some Vikings are just more prone to the Warrior life than others.

“Baku-”, dodge, “Hey-”, ducks, “Maybe-”, rolls on the floor. Katsuki sees an opening and swings his training axe between the blonde’s open legs. “HEY! NOT THE FAMILY JEWELS!” Kaminari screams outraged.

“Get up and fight, Dunce Face! I’m tired of you running away!” Katsuki screams back.

“Well, and I’m tired of you beating me up! What the hell is wrong with you today?” Kaminari says as he gets up from the floor of their training ground and pats the dirt out of his clothes. They train in an area on the outskirts of their village where the grass had already long died so they fought on beaten sand. There are also several training dummies and targets scattered across the field, and a little wooden shack where they keep the training weapons.

“What is wrong is that there is no way I will become the best warrior if the only people I have to train with are incompetent like you!”, Bakugou screams before charging in again.

Kaminari parries the attack with his two-handed sword, holding his ground against Katsuki’s immense strength. “I’m not afraid of you, Baku! No use in showing your teeth to me!”

Katsuki halts his attack at his opponent’s statement, “What did you say?”

“That I’m not afraid of you, man! I’ve known you since you ate earthworms from the vegetable garden on a dare!” Denki says dropping his sword too.

“Not that, the other part about the teeth”, Katsuki says conveniently ignoring how much the idiot knows about his life.

“Oh, you know you do that when you are angry. You do this nasty scowl and show your teeth like a rabid dog. It’s so ugly, bro. You gotta tone it down if you ever want to get married.”

“Shut up! No one asked you, Dunce Face!” And then Katsuki attacks again just for good measure. However, his mind is not in this training anymore since he finally found out why Deku can’t use his teeth. 

Deku is never angry! He is the most soft-hearted dragon of all, the idiot probably can’t muster rage enough for his teeth to show up when he needs them too. Finally, he had a breakthrough! Next time he saw Deku, he would make the dragon so angry there was no way his teeth wouldn’t show up! Bakugou was a fucking genius, that useless dragon should give him an award or something. He just can’t wait until he can go talk to the big crying lizard again!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I start this whole fic just to make the "Kacchan is a princess" joke? Or just to have Izuku calling Bakugou "Katschuski"? It remains to be decided.


	5. How to befriend a human

**How to befriend a human**

Izuku woke up very early in the cozy cavern he shares with his mother, the morning rays haven’t even touched the entrance and the whole place was very dark. That is just when he wanted to wake up because he need0s to sneak out before his mom can drill him about where he is going. So he gets up as slowly and quietly as he can, walking on the tip of his paws as softly as he can.

Izuku loves his mother dearly, but she is very overprotective since he can’t control his quirk and his teeth. She always treats him like a fledgling instead of the almost-adult that he is. Actually, that is a general problem in Izuku’s life, everybody treats him like a child and doesn’t take him seriously. He knows his friends and family love him, but they got to let him grow up and be the dragon he wants to be!

And Izuku doesn’t want to be smothered, living in the same cave and doing the same things when there is a whole world of things to discover! That is why right now he is sneaking out of Dragon Island to fly to Turtle Island where he will meet again the human that will help him control his teeth. Just a few meters from the entrance, Izuku steps in some of the several sea shells he and his mother collect for decoration. The little cracking sound sends Izuku into a panic, his tail waves blindly knocking a couple of small rocks around. Izuku freezes in panic thinking his mother will wake up, but she just grumbles in her sleep deep inside the cave and Izuku makes a quick exit.

The entrance of Izuku’s cave stands almost on the bottom of the huge dormant volcano that most dragons call home. The volcano’s outside and inside is littered with caves where dragon families live, and it stands on the middle of the biggest island of the dragons’ archipelago. Usually, over a hundred dragons can be seen flying around the island, coming and going from their nests, but at this ungodly hour of the morning the sky is empty. Even though, Izuku will have to walk to the border of the island before taking flight to make sure no one sees him flying above the trees.

Anyway… The human, Kacchan, is so funny... and a little bit scary… But Izuku trusts he has a good heart. He is always threatening to kill Izuku and calling him useless, but the human didn’t think twice before offering to help the dragon. Sure, they haven’t made a lot of progress last time, but it was just the first day. Izuku has been trying to control his teeth since he began walking, it will obviously take more than a day training with Kacchan to get it right. Izuku is glad he met the human since all he knew about humans was from second-hand reports from his friends that were allowed to hunt in the humans’ islands.

And his friends didn’t paint a nice picture of the humans, always saying they are stupid and mean, that humans only fight and yell the whole day. Sure, Kacchan fights a lot and says mean things, but he is not that bad. He is also very intelligent and very curious, and he can be kind (even if he pretends he can’t). Human food is very interesting too, it’s amazing how resourceful and creative they are to overcome being such weak and delicate creatures. Izuku knows that if anyone finds out where he is going, they are going to lock him up in a cave and never let him leave again, so he needs to be very caref…

“Good morning, Izuku!”, Izuku halts in panic as he hears inside his head the thought of his friend Tenya just as he is getting to the beach. Dragons communicate through telepathy when they are in their natural form. They use the same language as humans, but they don’t have to physically say the words and it’s why Izuku has such a hard time with his pronunciation. 

“Good morning, Tenya!” Izuku says trying to not sound so guilty inside his own head. Tenya is one of his best friends, they are about the same age and grew up together on Dragon Island. Tenya is a very imposing dragon, almost twice Izuku’s height and with a traditional body-type (big wings, small head, strong legs… very different from Izuku whose head still looks too big for his body and his wings are too small). His friend’s scales are navy blue, except around the eyes, where he has white scales circulating them.

“Are you going for a morning flight? That is very commendable! I’m going for a run myself, it’s important to keep fit for one’s duties!” Tenya’s strong voice resonates in Izuku’s head. He hates lying to his friend, so he makes the half-truth that should appease him.

“I’m going to fly to another small island to train my teeth… Please, Tenya, don’t tell my mom!” Izuku pleads to his friend.

“Izuku… That is absurd! What do you think you are doing?” Izuku winces as Tenya scolds him thinking he will certainly tell his mom. “You know very well this side of the beach is not appropriate for take off! The sand is too loose, you may hurt yourself!” Oh, Izuku forgot about that, they were supposed to take flight or land only on stable ground or something like that... “But I suppose you do need to learn to control your teeth…” Tenya says in deep thought. “Alright, but please take off in the appropriate terrain and be back before nightfall! If you get hungry find me and Ochako for food. We will be fishing today, and we will reserve some for you.”

“Thank you so much, Tenya!” Izuku says with a big toothless smile to his friend, then turns to take flight towards Turtle Island in the right side of the sand.

“Take care! Don’t do anything reckless, Izuku!” He hears his friend plead just as he lifts off the beach.

…

Izuku got to Turtle Island before Kacchan this time, at least the feisty human won’t be able to scream at him because of that (though certainly, Kacchan will find other reasons). Izuku really likes Kacchan, he is very funny, and it is always a thrill to try finding out what he really means. Do all human have the habit of saying something and meaning something else? Because Kacchan never says what he is thinking, so different from his dragon friends that literally communicate by thought…

With Kacchan, is always chaotic. The boy may say ‘If you don’t show up I’ll kill you’ but Izuku knows he means ‘I really want you to come’. The time Kacchan said ‘your only utility is to teach me about dragon shit’, Izuku is sure the blonde really meant ‘I think you are really interesting and not useless at all’. Deep down, Kacchan is very kind and warm, maybe it’s just a human thing to pretend they aren’t like that. Maybe all humans are like Kacchan, just hiding their true feelings.

Izuku shifts into his human form to wait for the Viking. Izuku is very good with his transformation, he can keep human form longer than anyone else he knows since he trained so much for it. It may sound weird that one of the only dragons that isn’t allowed anywhere near the humans is the one that mastered his shift the most, but that is because Izuku really didn’t have much else to do besides training it.

When he and his friends entered the age to train for hunting and protecting the flock, it was already clear for everyone that Izuku would not amount much of anything. His body was weirdly proportioned making him look like a perpetual youngling to other dragons, he had the rare retractable teeth but they were no good if Izuku couldn’t control them, and his quirk… His quirk was the biggest blow of all, he had the same quirk as All Might, the strongest dragon in the whole archipelago, but he couldn’t control it and it usually went haywire in the worst moments. 

There was a time he was flying, his quirk quicked in and he flew so fast he couldn’t stop -  he only came to a halt when he went face first against the volcano. Trying to use his quirk in hunting and fishing makes Izuku come back with more bruises and broken bones than prey. It came to the point that his mother actually said maybe it was better for Izuku to pretend he didn’t have a quirk and just keep his power inside him so he won’t get hurt again. It’s really disheartening having such a powerful quirk but being too dumb and weak to wield it properly.

But Kacchan promised to help him with that too! He doesn’t know how the human will do it, since Kacchan barely understands how dragon magic works, but Izuku believes the little human can do it. Kacchan seems to be very smart and he is a warrior, surely he understands a lot about hunting and fighting. Izuku hopes Kacchan will not take long to arrive, he really wants to get a good progress with the teeth conundrum today.

Just as Izuku thinks about it, he sees Kacchan’s tiny sailboat getting close to the island. The human seems to be struggling with the current from the movements of his boat. Should Izuku go to help him? Or is Kacchan going to scream at him? Maybe Kacchan will scream but at the same time want help? Humans are so confusing…

Before Izuku can make up his mind, Katsuki already passed the currents and is jumping out to pull his boat to the sand. Izuku jogs towards him with a huge smile on his face, “Hi, Kacchan! Did your mom kill you with nagging again?”

“No, she didn’t… This time it was a stupid sidekick that trails around me in the village that got in my way. I had to make sure he wasn’t following me before I came.” The blonde grunts, dropping the rope of his boat and walking towards the palm trees.

“What is a sidekick?” Izuku asks curiously. Really, humans come up with the craziest of things! Izuku chuckles to himself thinking about the time Kacchan said they think they own sheep.

“A sidekick… is a warrior that is not as good as the leader, the hero, so they just stand around and help the strongest warrior, in this case: Me.” Bakugou says cockily pointing to himself with a wild smile.

“A warrior that fights by your side… like a friend?” Why do humans come up with so many words that mean the same thing?

“Oh, he wishes I call him my friend. He is just a ugly-haired pest that I can’t seem to shake off.” Kacchan says pulling a water pouch and drinking.

“Still sounds like a friend… Sometimes I have to shake off my friends too…” Izuku says thinking about Tenya’s demand that Izuku didn’t sneak off to a forbidden meeting with a dangerous human that tried to kill him.... by taking flight in the wrong kind of terrain.

“You shake off your friends? Ain’t you too sweet and well-mannered for that shit?” Katsuki teases.

“Well, I’m here meeting a hooman, ain’t I?” Izuku replies snarkily.

“Alright… Good, because I found out how to control your teeth and you are going to need all that shitty attitude you are claiming to have.”

“Really?” Izuku gives the human a huge smile and crowds his personal space. “Did you really? How? What did you find out? What do I have to do?”

Bakugou pushes the dragon away by his shoulders, “Don’t fucking jump on me, idiot! And yeah, of course I found out. Told ya I’m the fucking best! Now sit down so that I’ll explain it to you.” Izuku sits back down on the sand and looks expectantly at Katsuki, “the answer is aggression. Fighting and hunting should bring forth aggression, and that is what should make your teeth come out. If you can’t make yourself feel angry, you will not be able to make your teeth come when you want it.”

That… makes sense. It’s basically the opposite of what Izuku always thought he should do, he thought he needed to concentrate to control his teeth. And, in order to keep concentrating, he couldn’t allow his feelings to cloud his thoughts. But Katsuki had a point, his teeth should come out naturally during hunting and fighting, and those are instances where dragons would naturally feel more aggressive. Kacchan is really smart!

“But how will I make myself more… aggressive?”

“That should be easy, I’m the fucking king of aggression. Just follow my lead, shitty Deku”, Bakugou says with a half smirk.

…

Izuku shifts back into a dragon and sits on the sand waiting for Kacchan’s instructions.

“Alright, idiot. You need to channel your inner aggression. I know you got it, it is just small and useless, but we need to bring it forth, ok?” Izuku nods even though he has no idea how he can find his inner aggression and he isn’t feeling any hostility whatsoever. “Let’s try snarling. It’s a way to express aggression, maybe it can be used to invoke it as well. Do it like me, arrrrrght!” 

Kacchan makes an ugly face, pulling his upper lip up and showing his pitiful fangs. Really, with such tiny teeth, Izuku doesn’t know how Kacchan has the gall to call him useless for being toothless, the human might as well be too! Even though, Izuku tries mimicking the same grimace and copying the snarling sound.

Bakugou, however, laughs loudly bending over his belly until small tears come out of his eyes. “That was the stupidest thing I ever saw! You idiotic toothless dragon snarling just makes it look like you have something stuck on your gums. By Gods, you look stupid”, Katsuki says still laughing.

Izuku is sure he is pouting now, Kacchan could be a little more understanding! This is hard enough without him making fun of Izuku! Izuku shows his tongue at him for good measure, he knows humans understand that symbolism because Mina is the one who taught him and she saw that from a few fishermen.

“You put that tongue away before I cut it out! Cheeky bastard!” Finally Bakugou stops laughing, “let’s try again. Try thinking about… about a sheep that is getting away and making fun of you for not being able to catch it!” That sounds stupid, why would a sheep make fun of him? How would a sheep make fun of him? As far as he knew sheeps couldn’t communicate telepathically…

“Focus, Deku! We are losing daylight! Try again!” Izuku closes his eyes to focus on his inexistent anger and tries again. He can feel the snarling sound coming out from his throat but doesn’t feel the snapping of his teeth coming out, so he knows it didn’t work again. “Well, I guess there is no helping it… You are truly useless. I give up, you are too stupid to teach, even I can’t make you learn anything.” Kacchan says seriously.

Did he mean it? Or is Kacchan saying one thing and meaning another as he does sometimes? Maybe he really means it, Izuku truly is useless and will never learn to use his teeth…

“The only thing more stupid and useless than you are the other dragons! Gods, you are all a bunch of morons, aren’t you?” Why is Kacchan bringing his friends into this? They never talked about Izuku’s friends like that… “Dragons are the lowest of all creatures, they have all this fucking magic but they can barely use it! If no one taught you how to use your magic and your teeth, it means your whole flock is made of morons! This shit is good to know because now I know there is no risk in taking every ship we own and invading the Dragon’s archipelago to kill every last one of you motherfuckers! The world will certainly be a better place once we get rid of every last shitty dragon that …”

Izuku doesn’t even feel himself move, and when he notices it he is standing on top of Kacchan’s chest pinning him on the sand and snarling at him with a mouth full of pointy teeth. He is so angry! How can Kacchan say something like that?! After all they’ve been through?! Kacchan knows dragons are not mindless beasts, he knows it! Izuku’s friends are great and powerful dragons! It’s not their fault Izuku is so useless! And they are such good friends, they are always taking care of Izuku, making sure he is well fed and protected since Izuku can’t hunt and fight for himself! Kacchan has no idea what he is talking about! And to think that Izuku even thought he and Kacchan could be friends…

“There it is,” Kacchan says smiling at the furious dragon, “finally showing some aggression! I knew you had a bleeding heart. You may not show your teeth to defend yourself, but you will to defend your friends.”

Izuku gets off of Kacchan’s chest and sits confused on the sand. Did Kacchan provoke him? Just to show Izuku had aggression in him? And… it worked? Izuku feels his teeth with his tongue, they are all still there.

“Now remember this feeling! This feeling of being angry! We need that shit! You need to be able to find your inner anger when you need your teeth to come out.”

He was! Kacchan was just trying to help him! And Izuku snapped at him! He could have hurt the human, their kind is so fragile! Izuku jumps back towards Katsuki and nuzzles in his chest and neck asking for forgiveness.

“Get off! It’s fucking alright, got it? I know you didn’t mean it, idiot. And I wasn’t fucking scared! You are too much of a wimp to scare me! See? Your teeth are already back in! We need to train more, so fucking focus, ok?”

It’s going to be hard to focus on being angry and aggressive when he is feeling such a bubbly feeling in his chest from Kacchan’s effort in helping him. But Izuku will try his best since he can’t let Kacchan’s hard work be for nothing.

They try a few more times during the morning until both dragon and human have their bellies growling in hunger. The sun is high in the sky, so they retreat to the tree line where the beach becomes a forest. Izuku shifts back into his human form so they can talk more freely.

“I brought mince pies. They are fucking great, you are going to love them”, Kacchan says taking two weird looking bread loaves from his satchel. Izuku looks skeptically at the mince pie that Kacchan gives him. 

They smell funny, it’s a combination of strong smells that Izuku has never felt before. He takes a tiny bite and the flaky pastry melts deliciously in his mouth. Humans do know how to feed themselves! This is great! Feeling confident, Izuku takes a huge chunk of the pie and discovers there is some kind of filling inside the delicious pastry, he begins chewing happily at the mixture of pastry and filling until he feels like a hundred tiny flavor-bombs are exploding in his mouth at once. It’s good but it burns and hurts his tongue, how can something taste good and hurt at the same time? What are humans doing with their food? A few more bites and the flavor-explosions become too much, tears roll down Izuku’s eyes and he reaches blindly for Kacchan’s water pouch.

“What? Can’t handle a little heat? You are such a shitty baby, Deku”, Kacchan says laughing at Izuku’s predicament.

“What is that?” Izuku says with his tongue halfway out of his mouth. “How can flavor hurt? What did you do to this food, Kacchan?”

“It’s just some peppers, Deku. Don’t be a wimp, these pies are fucking great.” Kacchan says with his mouth full of the weird food, he seems to be enjoying himself. Do humans’ tongues work differently than dragons’?

“I think I prefer the bread…” Izuku puts the rest of his pie back into Kacchan’s satchel. He may try hunting later, he needs to put his teeth to the test anyway.

“We have hundreds of food besides bread. I can’t bring most of them in my bag or else it would spill. But we have some great stews and things like that.” Bakugou says matter-of-factly while he finishes his pie and fishes Izuku’s portion to himself.

“I wish I could taste them… Dragons eat everything raw, I never tried cooked food before I met you…” Izuku says kicking the sand a little. There are so many things he has never seen, never tried. He loves that Kacchan is trying to show a little of his world to Izuku in exchange of Izuku teaching Kacchan about dragons’ lives.

“That sounds boring. There are several other flavors you can give food by cooking it with spices. Always eating it raw sounds like it would get old pretty quickly.”

“Well… we try changing things up a bit… Sometimes we hunt bigger animals, like sharks or whales… And there is this weird blue fish that only appears on the summer that tastes very unique… And, when we get tired of fish, we can always go for sheep…” Izuku finishes saying with a small teasing smile to Kacchan.

“And that is why you have so many fucking Vikings trying to kill you! Just learn how to cook fish with some herbs and leave our fucking sheep alone!” 

Izuku laughs openly at the human’s antics, “Do the sheep even know you are supposed to be their owners?”

“Surely they know, if they don’t I’ll personally knock some sense into them”, Katsuki says pretending there isn’t a small smile trying to break into his serious face. Izuku just laughs louder until Katsuki gets sick of his provocations and grabs the boy into a choke hold until Izuku learns how to tap out of a fight.

…

When Izuku lands back on Dragon Island, the sun is already hiding on the horizon. He and Kacchan made good progress with his teeth today, Izuku is brimming with excitement. By the end of the afternoon, he managed to use his teeth to grab small fishes in a small stream in the middle of Turtle Island. It feels great to have a belly full of food he hunted by himself! No need to bother his friends to help him out, no sir! Izuku will become an independent dragon soon enough!

Even Kacchan had praised him! He said ‘finally you are becoming something worthy enough to kill, fucking Deku’, which in Kacchan speak translates to ‘I’m proud of your development, Izuku. Keep up the good work’. Or, at least, Izuku hopes it does. 

“Izuku! There you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Izuku hears the voice of his best friend inside his head, Ochako. Ochako is a very beautiful dragon, her hide is streaked in light pink and silver, she is on the small side (the same size as Izuku) but is perfectly proportioned with big silver wings and a small dainty head.

“Hi, Ochako! I was flying around, exploring small islands…” Izuku says trying to keep the guilty tone out of his voice, he really hates lying to his friends. 

Ochako shakes her head and falls into pace by Izuku’s side while they walk towards the center of the island. “You shouldn’t be going out on your own… It’s too dangerous! What if a human boat sees you?”

“You know humans haven’t come inside our territory for years… I’ll be fine, don’t need to worry.”

“I always worry, Izuku! You are my best friend! And… I miss you… You’ve been vanishing so often I feel like we barely have time to fly together and talk anymore”, Ochako says pouting and Izuku knows he can’t say no to her now.

“We can go out together tomorrow! I promise I’ll be around the island!” Izuku says quickly before she asks more questions on why Izuku has been vanishing all the time.

“You better! I had to spend the whole day with Tenya today, and even though he is a dear friend and I love him, if I hear another word about the ‘Elder’s official recommendations for hunting fish of small stature’ I will make him fly to the moon, I swear.”

Izuku laughs openly imagining Tenya’s antics during their hunting expedition. “It can’t be that bad! Tenya is a little strict, but he is a good hunter.”

“A good hunter but an annoying flying mate. Maybe if we can make sure no human boat has been spotted, you can come hunting with us next time.” Ochako says and Izuku can feel the smile in her inflection, but it just dampens his mood a little. It’s sad that even his best friend can’t trust him to take care of himself. It’s not like he ever got trouble with human fishermen!

I mean… Kacchan attacked him and he couldn’t defend himself, but that doesn’t count since Kacchan is the best warrior of his village, right? He says it a lot. And now Izuku and Kacchan are friends, so all is well when it ends well.  _ ‘There is no reason for Ochako to be so overprotective of me, none at all’ _ Izuku thinks just as his paw gets stuck in a root and he is falling face first into the ground when Ochako uses her powers to make him levitate.

“Maybe we can take you for fishing in inland lakes and streams in other villages, sweety”, Ochako says kindly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Izuku, our little sweet klutz dragon <3   
> And this is our first peek at the dragon's life, what do you guys think of it? :D  
> I look forward to your comments <3


	6. How to be friends with a dragon

**How to be friends with a dragon**

Bakugou and Izuku developed a nice routine, they meet every three days and spend their time together training Deku's teeth and debating the differences between dragon's and human's societies. Katsuki would never admit to it, but going out to meet Deku was his favorite thing to do. It was better even than fighting, it was thrilling and exciting but at the same time fun and insightful. There were so many things Deku could teach him, and Katsuki felt great when he explained human things for the boy and Deku’s eyes filled with admiration.

Katsuki discovered that dragons build their nests in little caves in the big mountain on the Dragon Island. He also found out that they organize parties for hunting, fishing and patrolling their territory, and that Deku isn't allowed in any of those parties since he can't fight. The dragons also don't have only one chief, as Viking villages do, they have a group they call Elders that is formed by the oldest and the strongest dragons. The Elders are the ones who make the rules that all other dragons have to follow.

Deku also has gotten much better at controlling his teeth, now he manages to make them appear at his will at least six times out of ten. Last time they met, Bakugou and the dragon even sparred a little with Deku both in his human form and dragon form. In human form, the runt is still very uncoordinated and he obviously doesn't know any fighting style, so Bakugou taught him the best he could (and maybe overpowered him a few times just so the boy knows who is the best). But in the dragon form, it was a fucking blast, Katsuki can't remember the last time he had so much fun. They rolled around on the beach trying to subdue one another, kicking up sand around. Even Izuku finishing the fight by licking Katsuki's face and drowning the Viking in his disgusting dragon spit didn't take Bakugou’s good mood away.

So no way in hell this little drizzle will stop Bakugou from going to see his dragon today, Katsuki thinks as he sees the dark clouds in the sky. He and Deku still have many things to talk about and train, Katsuki wants to discover if Deku can imitate his fighting stance even in dragon form, so he can’t give up going to Turtle Island because of fucking rain. Bakugou glares at the sky and pushes his tiny boat to the water.

The sail to Turtle Island was not very long anyway, Bakugou will probably be inland before the rain gets heavier. Then he and Deku can make a fire to get warm, maybe the dragon will even breathe some fire. Deku said he could do it but his fire is very small so it's not very useful for fighting. Shit, he has been seeing Deku for over a moon cycle and he still hasn't seen the dragon breathe fire! There are just so many fucking things to talk and to do with Deku, Katsuki can't miss even one shitty day he has with the dragon!

The rain doesn't pick up much until Bakugou sees Turtle Island on the horizon, but as he gets closer to land the waves get huge. He should have thought about that, the current around this shitty island is crazy strong on a good day. Now, with the rain and the wind, it became deadly. 

Katsuki begins getting scared, the little wooden frame of his boat makes awful crackling sounds at the strength of the current. He closes his sail hoping to lower the intensity of the powers the boat has to endure, but then he starts floating without direction. Bakugou thinks quickly and puts the oars into the water, however trying to row is too heavy, he isn't strong enough.

Getting distracted with his rowing problem,  Bakugou doesn't see the huge wave coming to his direction until it is too late. The wave comes crashing down on the boat, Katsuki feels the wood give in and break under his feet and he barely has time for one last big gulp of air before the sea buries him.

Bakugou doesn't even think about his situation, he just swims wildly trying to go back to the surface. But the current’s strength is too great, every time he thinks he will get some air, another wave pushes him down. Shit! He needs… he needs to reach…

Katsuki's eyes are closed, forced that way by the sea's salt and waves, so he just feels the moment big paws hug his midsection and hoist him up in the air. He coughs and heaves, his lungs burning from the lack of oxygen and the sea water. Bakugou is so caught up in trying to breathe, he doesn't notice when the beach gets closer, he just feels the wet sand under his fingers as he is laid down away from the sea.

Deku saved him. The dragon he tried to kill less than thirty days ago saved his life. Bakugou coughs a few more times and shivers as the cold enters his skin.

“Kacchan! Are you alright?” Deku transforms into human and supports Bakugou's back as the young Viking keeps coughing out the sea water. “I was so scared when that wave flipped your boat!”

“Deku… I…” Katsuki tries talking but his hurt throat doesn't let him continue and he coughs some more.

“Don't talk! You need to breathe!” Izuku pets his back fussing over him like a mother hen, “you are so cold! Let's get you under the trees!”

The skinny boy picks Katsuki up in his arms with a strength no one would say his tiny body possessed. They enter deep into the forest where the thick foliage kept most of the rain away. He drops Bakugou down against the trunk of a big tree and begins gathering sticks and firewood from around. Katsuki watches Deku's every movement quietly, focusing on getting his breathing normal again.

After stacking the wood neatly near Bakugou, Izuku gets close to pile and looks very seriously at it. He closes his eyes and takes a couple of deep and slow breaths, then he opens his eyes again and breathes out a small flow of fire. His fire is light yellow, almost white, and lits the wood instantly. It’s beautiful, Katsuki feels warmer just looking at the bright flames.

“There, this should help you get warm” Izuku says with a bright smile, and Katsuki would like to agree but he can’t be so optimistic. His wet clothes cling to his body and he feels cold all the way to his bones. Izuku probably didn't think of helping him out of his clothes since the dragon rarely uses clothes himself.

“Stupid Deku, help me take this shit off”, Bakugou says already struggling to release himself from his cape. Izuku runs to his side and takes the cape off him. 

“Your clothes are wet! How do we make you warm if your clothes are wet?” Izuku asks scared while pulling Katsuki's shirt off.

“Just stretch them near the fire, they should get better soon enough.” Katsuki’s voice is raspy from his injured throat. Bakugou keeps only his pants, but the strong fire is really helping with the cold. Luckily for them it is not winter yet, but a nice spring day.

“Deku”, Katsuki calls for the dragon while Izuku tries putting his clothes to dry.

“Yes, Kacchan?”

“You saved me”, he says and Izuku just looks at him confused, even doing that stupid tilt of the head as he does in his dragon form. “You saved the human that tried to kill you then blackmailed you into telling all your secrets. Why?”

Izuku just chuckles as if Katsuki was talking nonsense. “Why, silly, because we are friends,” Izuku says with a bright smile. But as Katsuki just stares at him seriously, his smile drops and he completes, “aren’t we?”, worry filling his eyes.

Stupid fucking dragon making Katsuki’s heart fell more heavy and turbulent than the sea he just got out of. However, looking deep into Izuku’s forest eyes, Bakugou felt the weight in his heart lift and the answer to Izuku’s question becomes clear.

“Of course we are friends, stupid Deku.”

…

The rest of their day was spent with Bakugou trying to get dry and warm again. Deku brought fish for them to cook and Katsuki taught the dragon about gutting and putting the fish on sticks to roast them. Katsuki likes cooking and the idea of Deku not knowing the wonders of spices and cooking was completely besides him. 

As Bakugou’s throat was still hurting, Deku did most of the talking. The dragon talked more about his friends and, his favorite topic, All Might. All Might was the strongest dragon of all, the boy described him as a huge yellow dragon, larger than life, stronger than the ocean. All Might protects all dragons and keeps the peace in their archipelago. He is also very kind and caring, always looking out for Deku. From Izuku’s tales, Bakugou gets curious about this All Might dragon. Katsuki thinks he already heard the description of a dragon like him, incredibly strong and powerful, but now he wants to see for himself if the stories are true.

“And one day, All Might flew all the way from Dragon Island to the last island of the pelicans, aaaaalllll the way north! In like a blink of an eye! He is so fast! He did that because two dragons were fighting for a nest, so when he got there he headbutted a new cave in the mountainside so both dragons could nest there! Isn’t he great?” Izuku was clearly an All Might fan boy, but it was interesting to listen to the idiot ramble about his idol.

As Katsuki already imagined, Deku really is the runt of the dragons and struggles every day with his lack of physical prowess. It breaks Katsuki’s heart a little to hear about Izuku’s difficulties back in his home and the young Viking promises himself he will help Deku control all his powers. He is the best fucking warrior in all the Viking villages, if someone can transform the useless runt in a fighter it is Bakugou Katsuki.

However, now that it was getting closer to the time he has to go home, Katsuki is getting increasingly worried. His boat is gone, how can he get back to his village? Maybe he can write a message to Shitty Hair and ask for Deku to deliver? But that will bring so many complications, no way Kirishima will not have questions if an unknown boy shows up at his door saying Katsuki is stranded on an island. Can Deku even get to his village alone? But he really doesn’t have any other option.

“Deku, we need to figure it out how to ask for someone to pick me up here since my boat is destroyed. I can’t just wait around like a fucking idiot until some extra graces us with their presence.”

“Oh, I thought I would take you home,” Izuku says matter-of-factly.

“Do you have a boat laying around, idiot? How the fuck will you take me home?” Bakugou rolls his eyes.

“The same way I took you out of the water, Kacchan. Flying.” Izuku shrugs and Katsuki’s eyes go huge. Flying! The stupid dragon can fly him home! That will be fucking rad! Deku is certainly not as useless as he looks!

“Yeah, flying. Ok, we can try that if you want”, Bakugou tries playing it cool as if his head is not going crazy with ‘ _ FLYING! FLYING! I WILL FLY! TAKE THAT, MOTHERFUCKERS! WHO NEEDS TO KILL A DRAGON, I WILL FUCKING FLY ON A DRAGON! _ ’

Oh, wait. Kill a dragon. If the other people from his village see Deku approaching, they will take him down. Bakugou can’t allow those idiots to hurt his dragon! He needs to think of somewhere Deku can fly to and no one will see him. Somewhere far from the village that people don’t usually go to. Maybe the top of the cliff that is almost an hour of walking away from their village, it’s behind Aizawa’s hill and no one goes that way since the climb can be pretty tiring and there is nothing to do up there. If they arrive from the northeast, they can probably go unseen.

“Alright, Deku, let’s do this.”

…

The rain has completely stopped, and even though the sky is still full of clouds, they are a light gray color. Izuku and Katsuki are back at the beach debating their flight route to his village, and Deku is giving a few pointers to Bakugou about flying-etiquette.

“I never had anyone flying on my back, but you are very light so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I’m not fucking light, asshole! I have a healthy weight for a young man my fucking age!” Katsuki barks at the dragon (who just chuckles at the Viking’s antics).

“Right, I’m not sure if it will be better if your legs stay in the front of or behind my wings, when I transform and you climb up I may ask you to change your position. We have to be careful about weight distribution and aerodynamics.” Izuku’s voice gets lower gradually until the boy is muttering to himself, “and I can’t do my usual flips, or else he will fall. I need to fly in the most stable way possible. Takeoffs and landings can be dangerous too, I can’t fall on top of him after a bad landing…”

“Just transform back and lets get fucking moving, idiot. We are losing daylight!”

“Actually, daylight is not necessary, Kacchan. Dragons can see very well in the dark, I could fly you in the middle of the night in a new moon without issues.” Izuku explains smiling, Katsuki feels like smashing the idiot's head against the sand.

“But I fucking can’t, asshole! And after we fly there, I still will have to take the hike back to the village!” Bakugou screams and, finally, the dragon has the decency to look sheepish.

“Alright, I will just…” Izuku says and shifts back into his dragon form. Deku is not a big dragon, barely bigger than a horse, but right now he looks incredibly daunting. Shitty big lizard, how is Katsuki supposed to even get up on his back? As if reading his thought, Izuku kneels on his front legs making it easier for Bakugou to climb on top of him.

“I could go up just fine, shitty dragon”, Katsuki grunts just for the heck of it while he approaches Deku’s side. Bakugou runs his hand on the dragon’s smooth scales, it’s so weird that he can feel the light warmth coming out of something that looks so cold and rough. Izuku doesn’t have big scales on his spine as Bakugou knows some dragons have, so his back is pretty smooth. Katsuki throws his leg and mounts on Deku’s back. He wiggles his butt a little to check if he is well centered and almost slips from the dragon (he had to hug Deku’s neck to not fall off, but no one saw that), maybe Izuku’s back was too smooth.

Bakugou clamps his tights on Izuku’s sides, just in front of his wings that way the wings will help Katsuki to not slip backward. “Is this position good for you?” 

Izuku gives a few tentative steps forward and Bakugou thinks that riding a dragon is nothing like a horse. Deku’s movements are more fluid, his whole body waggles as he walks on the beach. The lack of a saddle also doesn’t help much. Katsuki holds on to the dragon’s neck, but again his hide is too smooth to give him a good grip. But Deku seems to be moving without great impairment, so maybe they can pull this off.

“What do you think? Can we do this shit?” Katsuki asks and Deku turns his huge head towards him and nods. Bakugou even thinks he can see the same dopey expression Deku uses in his human form, with the sweet smile and the almost closed eyes. It’s so fucking ridiculous that he chuckles. “Whenever you are ready, big lizard.”

Bakugou hopes his voice is showing a kind of certainty he is far from feeling. As Deku begins running on the sand, Katsuki feels his heart beating inside his throat. Maybe today really is the day he dies, if not drowning under the waves, it will be from falling hundreds of meters off a dragon’s back. Izuku begins moving his wings and Bakugou clamps his legs even tighter.  _ ‘Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, I’m gonna die. I’m gonna fucking die _ ’, Katsuki’s brain screams at him and he closes his eyes as Izuku gets even faster and with a powerful flap of his wings, they get airborne. 

Katsuki’s stomach does somersaults in his belly, his heart is still lodged in his throat and, when he dares to open his eyes, his breath is taken away. It’s fucking beautiful. In no time at all, they are gliding through the clouds and Bakugou can see the sun that was hidden before. The horizon seems infinite and he can’t help the huge smile that breaks into his face. He is flying! He is fucking flying!

It’s amazing, breathtaking, terrifying and exciting all in one. Looking down he can see the ocean between the clouds, looking up he can see more blue sky than he knew existed. The strong wind runs through his hair, and if not for Deku’s solid presence between his legs he would think that he died and is going to heaven. But Deku is very much alive under him, Bakugou can feel the dragon’s breathing inflating his chest, the strong wings flapping, he can even see Deku’s head moving as the dragon keeps track of their route.

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT, DEKU! THAT IS THE BEST THING IN THE WHOLE FUCKING WORLD!” Bakugou screams against the wind, and he thinks he can sense the dragon chuckling at his expense. But right now, not even that can sour his mood, he is fucking flying!

The way from Turtle Island to Katsuki’s village usually takes a little less than a couple of hours to sail in his tiny boat. But with Deku’s powerful wings, they cover the ground in a fraction of the time. Much too soon to Katsuki’s liking, they can see the deadly cliff where they will land on top of.

“There! That’s where we are going!” Bakugou leans his body forward to speak close to Izuku’s ears and points to the soft grass on top of the cliff. Deku corrects his flying path towards their target and, as they get closer, slows down his speed to a point where he is practically flying in the same spot like a hummingbird before descending softly into the grass.  _ ‘I guess you can manage some good landings from time to time’ _ , Bakugou thinks before dismounting, Izuku shifts back to his human form so they can say farewell.

‘ _ Maybe next time we can… _ ’, Katsuki begins thinking before halting, will there be a next time? He doesn’t have a boat to reach Turtle Island anymore and he doesn’t know when he will manage to get another one. Hell no, no fucking depressing thoughts! He will get another shitty boat even if he needs to fucking build it on his own. He just needs to tell Deku that maybe he won’t be able to go to their next meeting, but this is not fucking goodbye!

“Deku, my fucking boat is wrecked. I’m gonna get another but I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it to our next meeting. But just hang in there and I’ll…”

“Why don’t I just come here?” The boy asks tilting his head confused.

“What do you mean, idiot? Because it is fucking dangerous?” Bakugou asks confused. 

“You said no one comes around this area, and I’ll be careful that no one sees me. I can come from the north where human boats don’t usually go.” Izuku says a little embarrassed. Well, Bakugou guesses, he is not the only one who wants to continue their meetings.

“Oh. Alright, then. But pay attention, you idiot! Not every human is nice like me and will give you a chance to befriend them before they behead you!”

“I know, Kacchan”, Izuku says smiling, “Kacchan is the kindest human of all.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is our first glimps of Katsuki as a dragon rider :)) 
> 
> I can't believe this fic reached 300 likes, when I started this I thought no one would wanna read a stupid romcom crossover with HtTYD!   
> Thank you all so much for your support! Every kudo and comment make my day <3


	7. How to ride a dragon

**How to ride a dragon**

Bakugou Katsuki is not stealing, he is merely repurposing material that would be considered trash. It’s a matter of economic and ecological conscience, really. That is why he took an old saddle that was lying around one of the village’s barns and now he is picking leather patches from his father’s workshop. No one will miss these old things, and Katsuki can give them a new use instead of letting them go to the garbage.

For one thing is clear, Bakugou will fly with Deku again. There is no debating this issue, flying was the most amazing thing he has ever done in his life and he can’t stop thinking about it since it happened. However, it was a struggle to keep steady on the dragon’s back since his hide was so smooth. So the logical conclusion was that Deku needs a saddle.

The old one Katsuki got probably won’t sit properly on Izuku’s back and the harnesses will not fit him at all. Luckily Katsuki already spent enough hours helping his father in the man’s workshop (while hiding from his mother) that he is a fairly good leather worker. He is taking the saddle, the leather patches, and a few tools (he grabs the oldest ones so his father won’t notice them missing for a day) tomorrow to meet Deku and they can properly fit the saddle and the harnesses on him.

And then they can go flying. They will fly over the ocean and go explore other islands. Bakugou will have the chance of seeing more of the dragons’ archipelago and Deku will learn more about the human’s continent. They can’t go near other villages, but maybe they can check out the mountains to the east. It’s going to be great, Katsuki feels giddy with excitement.

“Hey there, champ. What are you doing back here?” Masaru asks light-heartedly as he enters his workshop and sees his son picking scraps from the ground.

Katsuki jumps scared when he hears his father and drops his leather strips on the floor.

“Oh, hi-hi dad. I’m just picking this up for…” fast, think of a plausible excuse! “helping Kaminari train for the sheep herding competition.” Bakugou feels like hitting himself as soon as the words leave his mouth.

“Sheep herding competition?” Masaru raises an eyebrow skeptic.

Shit, whatever, now he needs to stick to it. “Yeah, Dunce Face is really into it and he needs some way to mark the sheep. I gave him the idea of braiding some bracelets for their feet, so I’m taking these scraps to help him out.” Katsuki says while looking down on the floor to pick what he dropped and to avoid facing his father while lying to the man.

“Alright, my boy… If you need some more leather for… sheep bracelets… just let me know”, Masaru’s tone stated clearly that he didn’t buy this shit about sheep herding not even for a second, but it seems that his father will let this be for now.

Katsuki just murmurs a quick “Thanks dad, will do” and leaves in a hurry. He doesn’t know why his father didn’t press the subject since he knew he was fed a lie, however he will not complain about that. Bakugou will just count his blessings since his mother still hasn’t caught on that something weird is going on in Katsuki’s life.

…

Next morning as soon as the sun peeks on the horizon, Bakugou grabs everything he needs, shoves whatever fits in a satchel that he hangs on his shoulder and the saddle he just carries on his arms. The hike up the mountain was rough, it’s not particularly dangerous but it is very tiring to walk such a steep path through the woods. However, Bakugou doesn’t see even a single soul on his way there which makes him feel more confident that it’s a good spot to meet with Deku regularly.

Katsuki gets to the top of the mountain and sits down underneath a big tree to catch his breath. Well, no one can say he is slacking on his training to meet with his dragon since that was harder than anything he does with the extras in his village. And where is the shitty dragon, anyway? He didn’t meet any fishing boat on his way, did he? If the shitty dragon got himself hurt, Bakugou will kill him!

Right on cue, Deku’s powerful black form shows up on the horizon. Katsuki thinks this will never get old, watching Deku fly. He is magnificent, even though Bakugou will not admit to that not even in a million years. The young Viking gets up from his spot under the tree and gets closer to the cliff end of the mountain to greet his friend.

“About time you got here, shitty lizard! How did you arrive after me if I’m the one who has to use his legs to hike up the fucking mountain!”

Izuku lands gracefully on the grass and promptly transforms into the skinny boy Katsuki is used to by now. “Sorry, Kacchan. I had to take this huge detour to not risk getting seen by the fishermen”, the boy explains apologetically.

“Whatever, come and see what I brought for you”, Katsuki can’t contain his excitement from being showcased in his voice.

“Did you get me a gift?” Izuku’s eyes go big in surprise.

Bakugou halts and thinks about the dirty saddle and the scraps of leather he got from the floor for a second. Yeah, they can call it a gift. “Sure, let’s go with that. I got you a special gift, Deku, and you should be fucking thankful.”

Bakugou leads the boy to the tree where he left the things and presents proudly the dusty, half broken and a little stinky saddle. “Here is your gift!”, Katsuki even attempts an awkward smile to Izuku.

“Ahn… what is this?” Izuku looks confused at the item, then he gets closer, takes a whiff and grimaces at the smell. “I don’t know if I wanna eat it, Kacchan, smells yucky.”

“It’s not for eating, stupid!” Bakugou shoves Deku away and picks up the saddle from the floor in order for the boy to see it better. “It’s a saddle, we use it to ride horses. I brought it so I can ride you better.”

“Oh… but I thought we did it great last time. You are an amazing rider, Kacchan”, Izuku tilts his head in confusion.

“It was dangerous for me to mount you without protection, Deku!” Bakugou screams blushing. Stupid dragon making him embarrassed (however Katsuki doesn’t know if the blood rushed to his cheeks because Izuku doesn’t understand the danger of riding bareback or because the idiot keeps complimenting him).

“Alright, Kacchan”, Izuku smiles brightly at him, “we can do it your way.”

“Of course we are doing it my way, shitty lizard!” Katsuki screams at the boy to make it clear that he is angry and not flustered. “Now transform back so I can start making adjustments, I need to make this fit your body.”

In just a few seconds the skinny boy transforms back into the big almost black dragon. Bakugou finishes fishing the leather scraps and the tools from his satchel and gets to work.  He swings the saddle on Deku’s back making sure the placement mimics how he sat on the dragon a few days ago.

Luckily Izuku’s belly was not that much larger than one of a big horse’s, so the girth was almost enough, Katsuki would just need to add a few inches to make it close properly. He fixed the saddle with some rope he brought along with the tools just to see if the girth would be enough to keep it in place. But as he shook the saddle, the thing started slipping on Izuku’s back.

Deku moved his wings to show that once the saddle was too low on his back, it impaired his ability to fly. “Yeah, yeah, I see that. I’m gonna fucking fix it, you crybaby”, Katsuki responds to the dragon’s antics. Maybe he can create a cinch that hugs the dragon’s chest, that way the saddle can’t move that much. He measures how long the new harness will have to be then takes the saddle off Izuku.

“Alright, I know what I need to do. I’m gonna work on this shit now”, Katsuki grumbles as he goes back to sit down under the big tree and get to work.

Izuku follows him around still in dragon form and lays down by Bakugou’s side like an overgrown puppy. Katsuki has to bite back a chuckle at the dragon’s antics when Deku nuzzles the saddle again and makes the same grimace at the smell as he had done in his boy form. “I can clean it better later, don’t be such a baby.”

Bakugou begins extending the girth to fit around Deku’s body. That was the easiest part, all he had to do was sew a few more inches of leather on one end. Katsuki works quietly and focused, and Deku quickly becomes bored. As if trying to get his attention but at the same time afraid of annoying the human, Izuku gets closer inch by inch with his big head until he is almost on top of Bakugou’s lap, nuzzling on the Viking’s thigh.

“Hey, I’m working, asshole”, Bakugou pushes the dragon’s head away.

Not satisfied with the answer, Izuku rolls into his back and makes cutesy faces and positions himself to get Bakugou to play with him. But Katsuki is not biting it, “I’m fucking working, Deku! Give me a break! If you are so bored, shift back to human so we can talk.”

Izuku does transform back to human, but he stays in the same position on his back making little paw movements with his arms like a kitten. This time Bakugou can’t contain himself from laughing.

“Are you a dragon or a lapdog? How come you can’t entertain yourself for a couple of shitty hours?” Katsuki tries to sound annoyed but the fondness on his voice is hard to hide.

“I’m bored, Kacchan. Can’t you do that some other time? I want to play!” Deku whines at him.

“I have other shitty responsibilities on the days I’m not with you, Deku. Besides, we will not be _playing_ , we will be training and exploring. And the saddle will help with that shit.” Bakugou explains with a calm that seems very out of character for him.

“What responsibilities Kacchan has?” Izuku perks up, he is always interested in hearing the human talk about his life and Bakugou enjoys being the center of the dragon’s attention.

“I’m a warrior, and I’m gonna be the First Warrior. That means training my combat skills and shit with other warriors. So that when shitty humans try attacking my village I can protect everyone.”

“So you form protection parties like the ones we have in Dragon Island?”

“Kind of… I mean, we don’t have to patrol our territory, but we form groups to train together daily.”

“How is Kacchan’s group?”

“They are a bunch of idiotic extras that make more problems than they are worth”, Bakugou grumbles and Izuku laughs openly.

“They can’t be that bad if they fight by Kacchan’s side”, Izuku says still chuckling.

Bakugou just rolls his eyes and starts working on the chest cinch. They spend a few hours like that, Izuku making random questions about life as a human and Katsuki begrudgingly explaining in the most ‘Bakugou Katsuki’ way he could. When the sun was on its peak and their bellies began to grumble, Katsuki took from his satchel some dried fish, bread and a couple of apples for them to share.

Bakugou had to chastise the dragon for wanting to eat only the apples and the bread, “You need to eat fucking protein, shitty lizard!”, for he would not accept that his dragon got too weak for their training. There were so many shit for them to do and so many places to explore, and Deku was already a skinny little thing! The kid needed more meat on his bones!

However, taking a better look at the boy-dragon that now eats an apple as if it was the most delicious thing he ever tasted, Katsuki has to admit to himself that Deku does look healthier. His cheeks are a little plumper and he is not as pale as before. Maybe helping the dragon learn how to control his teeth has improved Deku’s food intake since now he can hunt and fish alone. A good heat settles in Katsuki’s belly when he thinks that he is the one who helped Deku do that, he is the one who made sure the dragon could feed himself.

After lunch, Bakugou goes back to finishing the chest cinch. This piece is much more complicated to make than the girth since he has to start from scratch, the saddle has no such harness already in place. Also, Katsuki only has scraps of leather and old tools, so the process is taking much longer than it would if he had the proper resources.  

However, he can’t say he hates the way their day is spent. It’s always fun to talk to Deku, the dragon has so many questions (and gives so many possibilities for Katsuki to boast about his accomplishments). He spends over an hour describing the best battles he ever participated in (sure, they were all mock battles, but he destroyed the extras anyway and that is what really counts).

When he finally finishes the last stitches on the saddle, he looks proudly at his work for a moment before barking at Izuku to “Get your dragon ass in place, Deku! We are taking this baby for a ride!”

Izuku promptly turns back into a dragon for Bakugou to saddle him. With just some minor last-minute adjustments, finally the saddle sits tight on Izuku’s back and now is the time to test it. “I’m going up, Deku”, is the only warning Bakugou gives before putting a foot on the stirrup and hoisting himself up on Deku’s back. He moves around a little bit to settle properly until he is happy with the result, “Alright. This looks good. Let’s try flying a little.”

Without a second thought, Izuku turns towards the cliff side of the mountain and trots towards it with increased speed. And Bakugou realizes the dragon intends to jump off the giant fucking deadly cliff to test the saddle for the first time, he freaks out.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? TURN BACK, SHITTY DRAGON, TURN BACK! TURN-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

There was no time for Deku to stop once Bakugou started yelling at him, they were already too fast running towards the cliff. As he feels the ground vanish from underneath Izuku’s paws, Katsuki closes his eyes and screams for his life. However, he doesn’t feel the crushing weight of gravity pushing him down towards a deadly fall so he opens one eye tentatively and is rewarded with the beautiful sight of the blue sky. They didn’t die. They didn’t die! Yeah! Perfect! He knew this saddle shit would work!

They fly for a while, enjoying the nice scenery of the sea. Deku flies low, his paws brushing the waves as Bakugou smiles openly on his back. “Hell yeah! Go faster! Faster, Deku!”, the Viking urges him and Izuku turns his nose up and quickly climbs high with some powerful claps of his wings.

They reach above the clouds and Deku stops mid air to let Katsuki enjoy the view of the sun rays reflecting  yellow on the cotton-like clouds. And just as the amazing view relaxes Katsuki more than he ever felt, Deku takes a nose dive towards the sea again.

It's a completely free fall, Izuku’s wings are tucked in to diminish as much as he can the air's resistance. They reach an unbelievable speed and Katsuki can't even scream in fear since there is no air left on his lungs. His fingers are white from holding on the saddle and his heart is beating inside his throat.

But in the last second Deku opens his wings and glides above the waves. Katsuki can't help the sounds (screams) of excitement that come out of him.

“HELL FUCKING YEAH! LET'S DO IT AGAIN!”

Izuku tries a few more tricks with Katsuki on his back. But, way sooner than any of them would have liked, the sun starts going down on the horizon and they have to call it a day. Bakugou still has to hike back down to his village and arrive home before dinner time.

They land back on the mountaintop and Izuku shifts back to a boy so they can say their farewells. They agree to meet again in three days as usual, then Bakugou picks up his satchel and the saddle and begins walking back home.

 

 

* * *

 

And this fic was gifted fanart by the sweet Twigzz! Thank you so much! I love it!

You can find more of his work here: [wattpad.com/user/Twigzzz](https://www.wattpad.com/user/Twigzzz)

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg I'm so happy with how this fic is being accepted by readers!   
> You guys are the best, all supportive and shit of my weird shitty comedy <3  
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :D


	8. How to make a new friend

**How to make a new friend**

Today is the day. Today is the day Kirishima Eijirou will get to the bottom of the mystery that has been making rounds around the village. It’s been over a month that Eijirou’s best bro, Bakugou Katsuki, has been vanishing from the village every three days. When any of their friends ask him where he is going, he just brushes them off and attacks them harder, but that hasn’t stopped people from conjuring what the chief’s son is up to.

The general consensus is that Bakugou found a girlfriend from a nearby village. Kaminari complains loudly to anyone who wants to hear about how unfair that Bakugou got himself a girlfriend but is too stingy to take his friends with him to one of his dates so that they can get to know the girl’s friends. But Eijirou refuses to believe that because there is no way his best bro in the whole world would find the love of his life and don’t tell him about it! No way at all!

Besides, Katsuki never showed interest in any girl in the village or from anywhere else. Last summer Aizawa took them to take part in a festival to try their strength against other villages’ young warriors, there were heaps of pretty girls around and Bakugou didn’t pay attention to them at all. Actually, he screamed at the ones who interrupted his training and made a cute one cry. So Eijirou really doesn’t believe Katsuki found a girlfriend and is skipping his daily training to meet her.

Kirishima thinks that Bakugou developed a new way of training to kill a dragon and is working on it in secrecy. That sounds much more like something his bro would do. However, that is also very uncool of Bakugou because he, Kaminari and Sero have been training with Katsuki since they were toddlers! They want to kill a dragon and become full-fledged warriors too! 

Nonetheless, he knows there is no point in asking Bakugou about it. His best bro is stubborn as a mule, and will always lash out when directly confronted. So Eijirou came up with a very clever plan: he will follow Katsuki when he leaves for his mysterious outing. The only difficult part of the plan is waking up early enough to catch Katsuki leaving his house, Kirishima already tried three times but he always oversleeps. 

Another challenge is going to be following Bakugou into the open sea with a boat without being spotted by the other Viking, but Eijirou figured he can think about this problem once he manages to wake up on time. And now he did! So all he gotta do is wait for Bakugou to show up at the beach while hiding behind one of the fishermen’s boats. And that was what Eijirou did, he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Eventually, the fishermen came for their boat, so he had to change his hiding spot to behind a big rock to wait some more.

When the sun was high in the sky and his skin was awfully close to his hair color, he had to accept the fact that maybe Bakugou didn’t skip out to do his secret training today. Without letting that get him down, Eijirou went to look for his bro across the village to find out why he didn’t vanish that day. But when Kirishima couldn’t find Katsuki anywhere he had to accept that his bro is not getting away by boat anymore.

And that brings him to today. Eijirou woke up on time and sneaked out of his house towards Bakugou’s. There is no way his bro is getting away from him today! Kirishima is so ready for this, he has his water pouch filled, his best ax sharpened and he even put on his good boots. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for Katsuki to show up.

And right on cue Katsuki leaves his house by the backdoor… pulling a very large crate? Maybe it is filled with training gear? No, he just lifted the crate and rested it on his shoulder, it must be empty or else he wouldn’t be able to do that. Why is he leaving his house with an empty box?

Another oddity is that Bakugou didn’t take the path towards the beach but towards Aizawa’s house. Is Aizawa training Katsuki in secret? Maybe that is it! It makes sense since Bakugou is the chief’s son, he oughta receive more training than the rest of the young Vikings. Should Eijirou still spy on his friend if he is training with their old mentor? Well, just a glimpse couldn’t hurt, right?

Kirishima keeps following Katsuki from several feet behind and ducking behind trees at odd intervals. But Bakugou is too busy fighting with his big crate to take notice of anything around him. As they got closer from Aizawa’s house, however, Bakugou changes his route and goes towards the mountain.

Hiking up the mountain is not something Kirishima was expecting to do today. It’s good that Eijirou put on his good boots, or else this would not go as smoothly. Also, it’s good that Eijirou is traveling light, just his big ax and a water pouch, the hike up would be pretty gruesome if he had to carry anything as heavy as, say, a large wooden crate. Bakugou seems to be struggling a little, maybe that is the training exercise?

They take some good time to go up to the top of the mountain. In regular conditions they would probably have been faster, but Bakugou was hindered by the crate and Eijirou needed to keep a good distance from his bro to maintain his presence a secret. When Katsuki got to the top of the mountain, he was heaving, sweating and half his tongue was rolled out of his mouth. Maybe Eijirou should have helped his bro to bring the crate?

Whatever, and now what? Eijirou is hiding behind a tree watching Bakugou settle the crate beneath another big tree just twenty feet away from the cliff and sit on top of it to catch his breath. Is the crate really empty? Maybe it has hiking equipment and his bro intends to climb down the cliff? But that is incredibly dangerous! His bro is going to die! If it comes to that, Eijirou will have to intervene.

Or maybe everybody else was right and Bakugou really is here to meet with his girlfriend. The place certainly is nice enough, the mountaintop is a small leveled field of grass with big trees around. Maybe the crate is full of gifts for her? But why would he bring so many gifts? Is she a gold-digger? Only interested in his bro for the riches of their village? That could be it! Their village is widely known for their pickled radishes! Is she a radish-eater exploiter taking advantage of his bro’s pure heart?!

Kirishima is taken out of his thoughts by Katsuki getting up from the crate and walking towards the cliff's edge. Bakugou is standing way too close for comfort of the edge and looking at the horizon. Eijirou leaves the safety of his tree to get a better look and to find out what is happening. From his position, he couldn’t even see properly because there were so many leaves on his way.

So Kirishima is going from tree to tree getting closer and closer to Bakugou, completely confused to what his bro is looking at. When he finally gets to the last tree before the meadow began, he can finally see what is in the sky and the sight fills him with pure, unadulterated panic. It’s a dragon.

A big greenish/blackish dragon flying straight towards Bakugou. Kirishima’s blood runs cold in his veins. He is equal parts excited and terrified, finally Katsuki will become a full-fledged warrior but that means killing the fearsome beast that is coming his way. Alright, everything is ok, they trained for this. They have been preparing for this moment their whole lives. All Bakugou needs to do is pick up his sword and prepare to slay the dragon.

And as the giant lizard keeps getting closer, now is a good time for Bakugou to unsheathe his sword. Do it, bro! Do it! Take the sword! But Katsuki seems to be enthralled by the creature and makes no motion of preparing for a fight. Oh gods, this is looking bad! This is looking real bad! What if the dragon kills his bro before he has a chance to fight?! That is the worst thing Eijirou could ever think of! He would lose his friend, his future leader and Katsuki would be seriously pissed about getting killed! He would bitch and moan about it for all eternity in the afterlife!

Not wasting even a second longer to think, Eijirou barges in wildly with his ax ready to kill the beast before his friend could get hurt. He screams at the top of his lungs a battle cry bringing Bakugou and the beast’s attention to him.

“AHHHHH! GET AWAY FROM MY BRO, MONSTER!” Eijirou yells as the dragon prepares to land right in front of Bakugou.

The dragon freaks out and messes his landing, dropping on top of Bakugou and rolling down with him on the grass in a mess of limbs and wings.

“LET HIM GO, DRAGON!” Eijirou screams again, “RUN, BRO! I CAN HANDLE HIM!”

The beast makes some crying sounds and keeps scrambling away from Kirishima. That is good, if the beast is afraid of Eijirou maybe it won’t eat Katsuki and...

“STOP IT! STOP! FUCKING HAIR FOR BRAINS! DROP YOUR FUCKING AX OR ELSE I’LL KILL YOU!” Katsuki finally manages to get up and stands his ground between the dragon and Kirishima.

What? That doesn’t make any sense.

Bakugou is seething with anger, one of his hand extended in front of him to stop Kirishima by his chest, while his other arm is curving towards his back in a protective manner reaching for the dragon. Talking about the dragon… the beast is cowering away on the floor making some awful wailing sounds and trembling in fear. Kirishima drops his ax in pure confusion.

“What…?”, Eijirou is so lost he doesn’t even know what to ask.

“Look at what you did, Shitty Hair! You scared Deku!” Bakugou barks at him then turns to the dragon. “It’s alright, Deku. He isn’t going to hurt you”, he looks back at Eijirou, “or else I’m gonna fucking hurt him.”

The dragon quits his crying sounds and blinks his big green eyes from Katsuki to Eijirou as if he understood what was just said. Very creepy. Katsuki runs his hand through his hair frustrated.

“What the fuck are you doing here, idiot?”, Bakugou asks angrily.

“I… I just wanted… to know where…” Kirishima tires to explain but he can’t focus since the dragon begins nuzzling Katsuki’s hand as an overground kitten wanting to be petted. “Baku, the dragon is touching you”, Eijirou says completely dumbfounded.

Katsuki clicks his tongue and pets the dragon aggressively, “Yeah, he is a needy little shit. Since you scared him, he will probably be this clingy mess the whole fucking day.”

“I scared it? I thought it was going to kill you!”, Kirishima says exasperatedly.

“As if he fucking could”, Katsuki rolls his eyes. “And he is a he, not an it. Don’t be fucking rude, Shitty Hair.”

And then the dragon transformed into a boy right in front of Eijirou’s eyes!

Still sitting by Katsuki’s feet and rubbing the top of his head against Bakugou’s hand, but now instead of smooth scale Katsuki was petting fluffy dark green curls. The boy was about their age and was wearing some dark green pants and a white shirt that looked too big for his skinny body. He had a fearful expression and unshed tears in his eyes, and that melted Eijirou’s heart instantly.

“Kacchan, don’t let him kill me”, the boy pleads.

“He ain’t gonna fucking kill you, Deku. Fucking chill, alright? This is Kirishima, he is the least useless extra that I command back in the village”, Bakugou explains annoyed but still petting the boy’s hair. 

The boy, Deku, gets up from the floor and checks Kirishima out warily for a few seconds before opening a big smile. “I’m Izuku, are you Kacchan’s friend?”

“H-h-hi there, Izuku. I’m Kirishima, did you see the dragon that was here just now? I swear, I saw him just a few seconds ago…”, Eijirou says looking around in a daze.

Izuku laughs openly, “I’m the dragon, silly!”

“Oh, sure”, Kirishima says and tries giving back a smile but the world goes dark around him and he plops to the ground completely passed out.

…

Eijirou wakes up sometime later propped against a tree trunk. Bakugou and the other boy are sitting in front of him and looking at him attentively when he blinks his eyes open.

“See, told you he was alive”, Bakugou grunts to the boy.

“He looked pretty dead, Kacchan”, Izuku says worriedly.

“Well, serves him the fuck right for following me in secret”, the Viking sneers.

“Hey! I wouldn’t have to trail after you if you said where you were going, bro!” Kirishima manages to complain even though he still feels a little groggy.

“Sure, because ‘I’m going to meet my magic dragon’ would sound great”, Bakugou ironizes while rolling his eyes. 

“Magic dragon? What do you mean there is a magic dragon?”, Eijirou feels like his brain is floating in wine, because nothing seems to make sense.

“Actually, all dragons are magic. I’m the only one who talks to humans, though”, Izuku says putting his finger in his cheek in a thoughtful expression.

“Wha-? Why-? How-?” Kirishima mumbles incoherently.

Bakugou rolls his eyes and huffs before answering.

“Shit is simple, Hair for Brains, dragons have magic that allows them to take the form of humans and talk to us. Deku here is a dragon and we have been meeting every three days to train together. That is the important shit, the rest you will understand eventually. Now tell me, did anyone else come up the mountain with you?”

“No, I came alone”, Eijirou answers still confused but now he looks at the boy-dragon with whole new eyes. A magic dragon! That didn’t want to kill them! And he can talk! That is incredible!

“Not even Dunce Face? Soy sauce?” Katsuki insists.

“No, no one. I didn’t even tell them I was following you, I knew you would be pissed if you found out”, Kirishima answers while poking Izuku’s cheek to see if the magic made the boy real.

“How the fuck haven’t I caught you following me? It must have been the stupid box, it was such a fucking pain in the ass to bring that up that I got distracted”, Bakugou grunts more to himself than to the others.

“What is in the box anyway?”, Kirishima asks curiously as if that was the real mystery there today.

“It’s just an empty box.” Katsuki grunts but Izuku interrupts.

“You brought the box? That is great, Kacchan!”

“What is the box for?”, Eijirou insists. He already has way too many unanswered questions, he will find out why Bakugou hiked up the mountain with an empty crate.

“To stow away my saddle”, Izuku answers with a smile. “Kacchan made me a special saddle, and we don’t want it getting ruined from staying in the rain, so now Kacchan brought a box.”

“Kacchan? Who is Kacchan?” It’s official, absolutely nothing more makes sense in this world.

“This is Kacchan”, the boy says pointing to Bakugou, who just rolls his eyes. “and I’m Izuku. And… what is your name, again?”

“Kirishima, I’m Kirishima Eijirou.” 

“Nice to meet you, Kirishima Eijirou”, Izuku says with a bright smile and Kirishima can’t help but to smile back.

“What the fuck?! How come you can pronounce this loser’s name?” Bakugou screams in anger.

“I don’t know? Maybe I just got better with human language?”, Izuku says tilting his head.

“Then fucking say it: Bakugou Katsuki”, Bakugou barks at the boy.

“Katusky”, Izuku tries and Kirishima swears he never saw his bro go through so many shades of red on his face before. “Bakusky? Katzusky?”

“ARGH!” Katsuki pulls the hair on his head, his face was getting closer to purple now.

“Wait, a saddle? As in a horse-saddle? For a dragon?” Eijirou decides to bring them back to more important information.

“Yeah, Kacchan uses it to ride me so we can fly”, Izuku says with a sweet smile back in place.

“Wow! Do you really fly with a dragon? Bro, that is incredible!” Kirishima exclaims amazed.

“Sure, I do”, Katsuki says smugly. “Deku and I are getting pretty good with this whole flying shit.”

“Can I try?” Eijirou’s eyes sparkle with the idea of flying on the back of a dragon. He receives two simultaneous answers.

“Sure”

“Hell no!”

Bakugou and Deku turn to each other both with annoyed looks in their faces.

“Ahn... guys?”, Kirishima tries breaking their standoff.

“Why wouldn’t Kirishima be allowed to fly with me, Kacchan? It’s my back and my saddle!”, Izuku interjects.

“Don’t try me, fucking Deku. You are my useless dragon and I’m the one who made that saddle, so only I am allowed to ride you!”, Bakugou barks back.

“Ok! Ok! We can leave that for some other time!”, Eijirou says breaking them off. “Now, tell me more about this whole magic dragon business.”

And they did, during the whole afternoon they told Eijirou how they met, the biggest differences between human and dragon societies, they explained the deal with Deku’s teeth and how Bakugou helped him to master them. Kirishima felt more excited and amazed by every new thing Izuku told him. There was this whole side of dragons he never expected to exist!

And it was interesting to see Bakugou and Izuku interacting with each other. They seemed to be very close, Eijirou never saw Katsuki petting someone’s head before. Who would say that Bakugou Katsuki’s soft spot was an eighty stone lizard? It was quite endearing to see. When they became hungry, Bakugou took food from a pouch to share with Izuku and, after some whining and convincing, he even shared some with Eijirou too.

After eating Izuku transformed back into his dragon form and Bakugou put the saddle on him. The two of them did tricks in the air for Eijirou to see. They seemed to be in sync at it, Izuku could even do some flips without Bakugou diving to his certain death. 

At the end of the day, they bid Izuku goodbye as the dragon flew off back to his archipelago and both Vikings began the walk down the mountain in silence. They are already in the middle of the way when Katsuki finally breaks the silence.

“No one can know”, his bro says somberly. “If people find out… they may try to kill Deku and his friends… And the dragons… Deku is breaking some rules by coming to talk to us, it is dangerous on his side too.”

Eijirou chuckles lightly, “bro, I don’t think no one would believe me even if I said anything.”

Bakugou chuckles too, “yeah, they would all think you got knocked out from getting headbutted by a goat.”

“That happened just once! Once!” Kirishima defends himself. “You know I've been winning against the goats for ages, bro!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time ever writing from Kirishima's POV, how do you guys think it turned out? :)))


	9. How to train your quirk

**How to train your quirk**

Izuku is angry. This whole morning was a mess, his mother woke up way earlier than she usually does and decided it was a good opportunity for them to fish together a little. She worries about Izuku eating properly, worries if the other dragons are not giving him a hard time because he isn’t good at hunting on his own.

And no matter how many times Izuku says he has dear friends who are always making sure he has enough to eat and that he got much better at controlling his teeth and can now fish on his own, she stills fusses and worries. So he decided to indulge her (yeah, he decided. The fact she bit the end of his tail and dragged him out of the cave had nothing to do with it) and go hunt some fish with his mother that morning. It would be a good opportunity to show off his teeth and how he got better at feeding himself.

Inko took them to a small bay where fledglings usually trained before being allowed to feed from the open sea. Any other day, Izuku would throw a tantrum about being treated like a child, but he didn’t have the time today, he needed to grab some fishes and get on his way to Kacchan’s mountain as quickly as possible. It was so early in the morning that the little beach around that bay was completely empty, so Izuku decided to get this over with before anyone else showed up.

“Alright, mom. Just so you can see I can do it on my own, alright? Stay here by the beach and look”, Izuku told her before taking flight out of the sand and doing a reconnaissance lap around the bay. There was a very big shoal near the deepest end of the bay, all he had to do was take a swift dive, catch a few fish in his mouth and bring them to his mother, easy as pie. Though some pies are not very easy, Kacchan explained the process of pie making once and it sounded like a very arduous process. Really, humans should find some better analogy to use, maybe 'easy as flying'?

Izuku flies another lap around the bay to position himself perfectly for the dive. When he gets in place he plunges nose first to the water, opens his mouth on the last moment and wills his teeth forth to swiftly kill the fishes inside his mouth. He feels at least four fishes between his jaw, happy with the result he swims to the shore and throttles proudly off the water with his head held high and the fishes’ tails coming out of his mouth.

Izuku is feeling very good with himself. Or at least he was until he saw Shouto waiting on the beach with his mother. The image of the powerful red and white dragon makes Izuku lose his footing and faceplants on the ground, filling his mouth with sand and dropping his fishes. Oh shucks! What is Shouto doing here?! Izuku isn’t ready to meet him yet!

Shouto is a young dragon, around the same age as Izuku, but he has one of the strongest quirks of their archipelago and is the son of an important Elder Dragon, Endeavor. Shouto is so powerful and intelligent that he is already being called to take part of Elders’ meetings and he is one of the few dragons who is expected to surpass All Might. 

While Shouto is one of Izuku’s friends, he still feels very self-conscious around him. Shouto is overprotective of Izuku, he probably thinks the awkward green dragon can’t do anything right without help. Izuku hates being so coddled and ends up keeping his distance from Shouto when he can. This time, however, he really is out of luck.

“Izuku, sweety! Be careful!”, he hears his mother’s words in his head.

“Are you alright, Izuku?”, Shouto’s voice makes him wince and take a few extra seconds before taking his face off the sand.

“I’m fine…”, he knows his voice probably sounded pouty, “the fish is dirty, I better wash it.”

But as soon as he finishes shaking the sand off his body, Shouto already picked the fishes from the sand and took them to the ocean to clean them. Izuku can’t even follow the other dragon because his mother is fussing with the sand in his ears. 

When Shouto comes back and returns the fish to him and his mother, he says “Congratulations, Izuku. The fish do have your teeth marks. I assume you really learned how to control them better.”

“Yes, I did!”, Izuku says to them as he gives a gummy smile before making a show of bringing forth his teeth.

“They look wonderful, sweety!”, his mother coos. “Well, Shouto said he hasn’t been able to talk to you in weeks, so I will let you both catch up. Don’t come home too late, Izuku!”

And she leaves before Izuku can make up any excuse that will not totally incriminate him.

“I suppose that is why you have been missing in the last few weeks, you were working on your teeth, right?” Shouto calls his attention again.

“Yeah, something like that”, Izuku murmurs, “actually, I should get going. I still have a lot of training to do.”

“I’m sure you can take a morning off, it’s been so long since we talked. I miss talking to you, Izuku”, Shouto says as monotone as ever, the dragon’s ability to prevent his feelings from slipping into his thoughts was uncanny. Izuku’s feelings were always at the forefront of his mind and it was impossible for him to communicate without showcasing them.

“I still have to train a lot, I have a lot of time to make up for not being able to use my teeth”, Izuku grumbles.

“Are you sure training on your own is the best? Maybe I could help you. Besides, we can schedule some sort of test to check if you are good enough to enter the novice Fishing Party, then you could train with them and…”

“I’m not joining the novice Fishing Party, Shouto.” Izuku’s voice is as furious as he feels. “You know I want a spot in the Patrol Party. I’ll keep training on my own until I can prove I’m good enough to join them.”

Izuku huffs and throttles away angry, Shouto follows him with his usual stoic calm.

“Izuku, you are being unreasonable. The Fishing Party is a very respectable position.” 

“I don’t care about respectable! I wanna explore and take care of our home! You know that! We used to talk about this all the time when we were fledglings!”

“But we grew up, and your power turned out to be too destructive to wield safely. Maybe it is time to let go of childish dreams”, Shouto’s voice took an aggravated tone now, as if he was talking to a misbehaving whelp. Izuku decides he had enough of Shouto’s condescending words and flies away leaving his friend behind. “You can’t run away from this forever, Izuku!”

…

So now Izuku arrives at the usual spot extremely late and quite annoyed.  Kacchan doesn’t take delays lightly, so Izuku knows the Viking will try killing him with nagging for arriving when the sun is already up in the sky. But he needs Kacchan to focus on helping him learn to control his quirk. He is so tired of everyone thinking he isn’t capable of using his own power!

“Fucking finally! You better have a damn good excuse for being so fucking late, shitty dragon!” Katsuki chides him as soon as Izuku lands on the mountain.

“Izuku! We were worried! We thought some fishermen could have spotted you on your way here!” Kirishima shows up right behind Bakugou but has a very concerned expression that clashes with Katsuki’s angry scowl.

However, Izuku has no time for their nagging today. “Kacchan! We need to start training my powers! Right now!”, the dragon says as soon as he shifts into his human form.

“Ha?! Who the fuck you think you are, shitty Deku?! Showing up late and making demands?!” Bakugou screams back and Kirishima puts himself between the two of them.

“Let’s take a second here, guys!” Eijirou says putting one hand on Bakugou’s chest and one in Izuku’s to keep them apart. “It’s been a stressful morning, why don’t we sit down for a nice lunch and talk about it? Okay?”

Both boy and dragon agree begrudgingly and they all sit under the biggest tree to eat the food. Katsuki and Eijirou had brought the usual, bread, salted meat and some fruit. Once Izuku had some time to eat the apple they had brought him, he begins feeling guilty for having snapped at Kacchan.

He knows humans are not very good with feelings and communication, he should be more clear when talking to Kacchan and Kirishima. Though both boys have quite different ineptitudes (Kirishima doesn't resort to screams and anger as quickly as Kacchan, but instead he ignores everything his small mind can't make sense of), they both are human and as such should be handled with care. Humans are delicate creatures, a little on the lesser end of the intelligence spectrum, and couldn’t deal with more than one emotion at the time, so Izuku needs to take care of his little friends and be mindful of their needs.

“I was late because a friend of mine took my time this morning. I got angry because he doesn’t take me seriously as a dragon, so I need to learn to control my quirk in order to show him and the others that I can be reliable.” Izuku explains clearly for the boys to understand. “Please, Kacchan, will you help me with my power?”

Katsuki looks at him with a little pout, probably trying to understand his own feelings about being worried about Izuku, then getting angry at Izuku’s demand and now becoming prideful because Izuku needs his help. It’s so funny how Kacchan can't really grasp those kinds of concepts and has to actually think about what he is feeling and how he should act. The only feeling the human boy seems to be completely at ease with is anger, anything else and he is thrown for a loop. 

“Alright, I’ll help you just because you are my dragon and I can’t have you being the laughing stock of the rest of the flock.” Katsuki replies still pouting.

And there it goes, the humans need to pretend they own things in order to care for them as if it was impossible to love something without stacking a claim over it. It reminds Izuku of the little hatchlings collecting shiny pebbles from the riverside, but if that silly idea makes Kacchan more comfortable Izuku doesn’t mind indulging him. It’s cute how the young Viking tends to his pride with such inconsequent things.

“How does your power work, Izuku?” Kirishima asks with his usual curious face.

Izuku likes Kirishima very much, getting to know the other Viking helped him understand a little about what kind of traits were human and what were specific to Kacchan. Kirishima is not violent and aggressive as most humans are depicted, but he is a little on the dull side. Trying to explain to the redhead the intricacies of how flying was possible proved to be a moot point, all the boy understood is that Izuku needs to clap his wings. So Izuku needs to choose his words carefully when explaining how his magic works to Eijirou.

“Every dragon is born with a special power that comes from magic, it’s called a quirk. Most quirks improve the dragon’s already present physical abilities. For example, a very common kind of quirk is one that allows dragons to spit acid, water or ice beyond the regular fire every dragon can expel from his throat.” Izuku explains very slowly and Kirishima hangs on to every word trying to understand, such a good boy. “Another common type of quirk is the kind that enhances speed or physical strength. That is the kind of my power, when I use it every physical attribute that I have becomes magnified. I become faster, stronger, more agile.”

“Wow! So you have one power for everything? It’s like One for All?” Kirishima asks with stars in his eyes, “you are very powerful, Izuku!”

“Thank you, Kirishima. But I’m actually too powerful, my quirk is so strong that when I use it my body can’t handle and I break my bones and rip my muscles. That is why I need Kacchan’s help with controlling it.”

“And as I’m so strong and powerful, I’m the best person to teach fucking Deku about getting his ass in line”, Bakugou brags puffing his chest and Izuku is torn between chuckling and being proud of the little human.

Kacchan really is amazing, but not for the reasons the young Viking believes. He is amazing exactly because he isn’t strong, but he trains so hard and works so much in being the best that he became ready to face even the strongest dragons Izuku knows. Katsuki is a small and dainty human, but he always swallows his fears and faces every new challenge with unwavering resolve. Kacchan is a big inspiration for Izuku and that is why he wants to train his quirk with the boy.

“Yes, Kacchan, you are amazing”, Izuku says smiling to the blond and rejoices at seeing the blush creep on his pale cheeks. 

“So, how are we going to do it?” Kirishima asks.

“First shitty Deku needs to show us his power in action, then I can think of the best way to train him.”

Izuku is a little skeptic about this approach, but Kacchan did really help him with the teeth issue so he shifts back into his dragon form and walks a little to the middle of their space. It’s been so long since he used his quirk it’s a little daunting to try again, last time he broke all the bones in his front legs using it.

“Come on, Deku! Do something! We don’t have much time since you got here so late!” Katsuki complains and Izuku has to hold back to not show his tongue at the boy.

‘ _ Alright, here goes nothing’ _ Izuku thinks before urging his quirk, One for All as Kirishima had called it (such a stupid name could only come from his silly human friend, Izuku almost chuckles thinking about it), to his hind legs. He can feel the immense power running there and, from the small gasps he hears coming from the boys, he supposes the green lightning that usually shows up on his hide when he calls for his quirk is there.

“Alright, I guess this shit is on. Now… maybe try walking with it?” Katsuki doesn’t sound so sure of himself and that doesn’t give Izuku much confidence in the human’s strategy but he decides to try it anyway. 

One step, just one small step with his quirk running through his legs. It can’t be that hard, can it? Izuku raises a front leg and moves it to the front, but when it’s time for his hind leg it all goes to hell as always. Instead of one small step, Izuku propulses himself onwards and makes a giant jump, stopping face first in a tree.

“Izuku, are you alright?” Kirishima asks while jogging close to him with Katsuki right behind him.

“Shitty Deku! Don’t you fucking die!”

Izuku gets up a little dizzy from knocking his head and looks at Katsuki expecting new instructions. However, when the blond simply says “Let’s try again”, Izuku honestly thinks maybe it’s better to shift to human and say with every word why that is a bad idea if Kacchan couldn’t understand that from seeing the first result. But thinking again about how Katsuki was right about the teeth issue, Izuku simply gets in position to try again.

“This time don’t go for the tree, aim for the space between the trees.” Katsuki says and Izuku has to control himself real bad to not roll his eyes at him. Really, Kacchan, that’s the best you got?!

But this time Izuku is already expecting a big jump, so he actually does prepare his body to jump somewhere he won't get hurt. He stops several feet away making a huge hole on the ground from the strength and speed with which he landed.  Izuku barely has the time to think about that though, since the moment he got his head up he hears Kacchan screaming “again!” from far away.

They try it a few more times with similar results, which is actually good news since Izuku doesn’t have any broken bones yet.

“You need more space, I can barely see you moving before you stop. And why only your hind legs shine green? Wasn’t your power supposed to do everything everywhere?” Katsuki asks and Izuku decides he has had enough of jumping around hoping he doesn’t break his nose against a tree and shifts back to human form.

“I don’t know. Since I always get hurt when I use it only on small sections, I thought it was too dangerous to try using my power on my whole body, so I never tried.” Izuku explains.

Katsuki looks at Izuku deep in thought for a while and says “that sounds like bullshit, you can’t expect to control your power if you are too much of a coward to try. No dragon of mine is a coward so I order you to come train with me tomorrow again, Deku!”

“Tomorrow? But we met today! Kacchan always says he has other responsibilities besides training with Izuku”, the dragon asks confused.

“Responsibilities? This guy?” Kirishima asks laughing, “no way, man! No one trusts him to do anything besides train and pick fights! Bakubro is too much of  a hot-head to have real duties in the village!” 

Bakugou punches Kirishima on top of the head and almost knocks his friend out. 

“As I was saying, I can’t have my dragon walking around without being able to use his own powers so you need to come tomorrow! Besides, we missed over half the day today so it doesn’t even count!”

“Alright, Kacchan. I’ll do my best to be here tomorrow morning”, Izuku says smiling to Katsuki because he knows that the real reason is that the Viking missed him and is worried about Izuku having a hard time with the other dragons. Kacchan is really doting on Izuku, it’s so cute!

The three of them talk a little more, Kirishima complains about being hit on the head and Katsuki complains about Kirishima having such a hard head that his hand feels like he just punched a rock. A part of Izuku doesn’t want to go back to his island today, doesn’t want to deal with his friends and mother not believing in his abilities because Kacchan believes in him. Kacchan even thinks Izuku should try using his power through his whole body, while the other dragons think Izuku should never use his power again. However, when the sun starts going down on the horizon, Izuku flies back home while the young Vikings hike down the mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being late with this chapter! My other fic was giving me a hard time, and as she is my priority for now the dragons had to wait for a little.
> 
> But we got to see a little more of the world through Izuku's eyes! What did you guys think?
> 
>  
> 
> Also, I need to thank you all because this fic reached over 500 kudos!! I can't believe it! Thank you all so much for your support!! I'm so happy to know more people have the same stupid sense of humor as me :x
> 
> ♡♡♡♡♡


	10. How to hide a dragon

**How to hide a dragon**

Bakugou Katsuki has no idea of how to help Deku with his quirk. He barely slept that night ruminating about how to deliver what he promised the dragon. And since he promised Deku he couldn’t back down from this problem. 

"... and Sero said he was sure he saw the ax in the shed, but when Kaminari went to feed the goats the ax was there! Now, I'm not saying one of the goats did it, but they can be some sneaky little…"

Bakugou goes back to thinking about Izuku's problem because anything is better than to hear Kirishima's idiocy. The asshole is following Katsuki to his meeting with Izuku as he has done ever since he found out about the dragon.

No matter how many times Bakugou threatens him with bodily harm, the other Viking doesn't stay behind in the village. Kirishima insists that he also enjoys spending time with the dragon and that it is less conspicuous if they leave the village together because they can say they were training. The rational part of Katsuki's brain agrees with this, but he still doesn't like sharing his time with Deku with the annoying extra.

Anyway, they would need to do more tests with Deku's quirk today. From the looks of it, it seems like the dragon's power doesn't have a gradient of strength, it's completely on or off. But that's just weird, he has never heard of a magical power working like that. Sure, all he knows about magical powers come from legends about gods, but the principles should apply, right?

"So, what do you think?" Kirishima asks pulling Katsuki out of his thoughts.

"I think you are all a bunch of knuckleheads and any goat is smarter than you all combined." Bakugou grunts at him.

"Exactly! That was what I- Wait, no. That wasn't what I was saying! Bro! Please, take this seriously!" Kirishima complains.

"No, I won't take your paranoia about the shitty goats seriously! I have more important shit to think about and I don't have time to your fucking whining!" Katsuki screams as he picks up his pace. The faster he gets to the top of the mountain, the faster he can get away from Kirishima's inane chatter.

"Are you thinking about how to train Izuku?"

"What is it to you? Leave me alone!" 

"Because I have some ideas about it," Kirishima says and Bakugou looks at him skeptic. "Hear me out, Izuku doesn't know how to use his power. You know who else struggles to learn things? Me! I had to train so much just to understand the basics you were born knowing. So I say I'm better prepared to teach Izuku how to learn since we both can't learn what is being taught. You get it?"

No, Bakugou doesn't get it because Kirishima apparently can't string together a single fucking sentence that makes sense. But he figures the redhead might be onto something. Kirishima is an idiot, Deku is not as much of an idiot in the good days but in the bad ones, he cuts it pretty close. So yeah, maybe the stupid extra could understand Deku's struggles better than Bakugou (who naturally excels at everything).

"And what the fuck do you suggest?" 

"When I couldn't learn how to properly use the bow, Aizawa made me shoot arrows for days. Under sun or rain, I had to keep repeating until I wasn't a 'bigger threat to human life than the damn plague', he said. And it worked! I can hit the target two and a half times out of ten, last time I counted!"

Katsuki remembers that, Kirishima was such a disaster with a bow that he routinely killed chickens with it. And the fucking chicken coop was to the opposite side of the targets behind a barn. It was actually quite impressive, Bakugou thought.

"There is barely space for him to try jumping on the mountaintop with so many fucking trees around. He can't train there." Bakugou says in deep thought.

"But there is space down the mountain", Kirishima says with a smile.

Bakugou hits him on the back of the head, "we can't take a dragon to the middle of the village,  Shitty Hair!"

"Hey, that hurt!", Kirishima pouts. "And I was talking about the other down, at the bottom of the cliff there is a beach. It's so far away from the village that no one will come that way," Eijirou gives an excited grin and completes, "and we can get there in seconds by riding a dragon."

Katsuki immediately snarls at him, "you just saying this shit to ride my dragon?!"

Eijirou rolls his eyes, "Izuku isn't yours, and he said he was cool with taking us both for a ride!"

Bakugou grimaces but doesn't have an answer. He knows Izuku isn't  _ really  _ his, but it sure as hell feels like it. Whatever, the idiot's idea is not that bad. The beach is pretty deserted at this point; the only risk is to be seen by fishermen, but when they arrive at the beach their boats should be far away, and they can finish training before the fishermen come back.

When Bakugou and Kirishima arrive at the top, Izuku is already there waiting. That is pretty weird since it takes a while for the dragon to fly from his archipelago doing the usual route to avoid being seen by boats. 'Deku must have woken up super early since he is excited to train' Katsuki thinks.

"Kacchan! Kirishima! Good morning", Izuku greets them with what is supposed to be his usual cheerful self, but Katsuki can tell something seems amiss. The stupid dragon must not have slept properly since he was so excited.

"Hey, Izuku! Ready to get this power under control?" Kirishima jogs towards Deku and Katsuki follows right behind him.

"Morning, Deku. We have an idea about how to train you", Katsuki grunts.

“But first you need to fly us down the cliff to the beach!” Kirishima says almost jumping in excitement.

“Or me, you can fly just me and Shitty Hair can take a fucking hike”, Katsuki says glaring at Kirishima.

“It’s alright, Kacchan. I think I’m strong enough to take the two of you down to the beach" Izuku says smiling, then takes a step back and shifts into his dragon form.

“Cool! Cool! Should I get up? Or no, should we put the saddle? Can I put the saddle? And if-”

“Shut the fuck up, idiot”, Katsuki hits Kirishima on the back of the head again. “The saddle is just big enough for one, so it’s useless. Besides, we are just going down the cliff, it will take seconds for Deku to get us there.”

Bakugou gets close to Izuku, and the dragon lowers his body to facilitate their mounting. Katsuki gets up easily, but when Kirishima tries it almost brings the two of them down because he hoists himself up with too much strength.

“Watch it, idiot!”

“Sorry, I miscalculated…”

“I’m gonna drop your sorry ass down the fucking cliff!”

Izuku turns his head to look back at them and Katsuki can see in his expression ‘don’t be mean, Kacchan, it’s just his first time’. Bakugou clicks his tongue, “don’t give me shit, stupid lizard.”

“Alright! I’m settled!” Kirishima says hugging Katsuki’s midsection as if his life depended on it. Which kind of does, so Katsuki will jab him on the ribs with his elbow just once. However, when Deku starts moving, Kirishima doesn’t feel so confident anymore. “Wow, oh… He moves weirdly, right? So… lizardly. OH! Wings! Alright! Big wings, flapping wings! And running? D-d-do we need the runnin- AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”

Did Deku really need to run off the cliff before taking flight? Probably not, Katsuki is pretty sure the shitty lizard is doing that because he enjoys seeing the humans freak out on their first time plunging down a cliff. Underneath the sweet facade, Deku is a little shit and Bakugou is the only one who knows that.

The descent to the beach really took less than a minute, but it seemed way longer since Kirishima didn’t stop screaming the whole way down. When Katsuki finally felt the soft thump of Deku’s paws reaching the sand, he began hitting the other boy to let go of him. 

“Get off, Shitty Hair! Stop screaming! We are on the ground already! For crying out loud, how can you be such a coward? It was just a small flight.” Katsuki manages to push a shaking Kirishima to the sand, then he dismounts by his side. “If you gonna get so terrified of flying, surely you aren’t cut to ride a dragon like me.”

Bakugou sees Deku rolling his eyes at him, ‘yeah, because you were not scared at all on the first times, right Kacchan?’. 

“It’s ok, I’m fine, bro. I’m just gonna stay here, on the ground, for a minute. It’s cool, you guys can start without me.” Kirishima says holding the sand as if it was the most precious thing he ever saw.

Katsuki decides to give the redhead some time to get over the fear of imminent death and focus on Deku’s quirk. “We thought about it, and we figured that you need to fucking practice the use of your power, Deku. Practice until you master it, it’s that simple.”

Izuku throws him an ‘as if I hadn’t tried this before, Kacchan’ look.

“But now you have me to lead your training, it’s gonna be much better. Just go to that end of the beach”, Katsuki points to the end where the sand met the cliff, “and try jumping to that end”, he points towards the infinite sand on the opposite way.

Izuku walks towards the mountainside and positions himself facing the beach. Katsuki sees the expression of focus on his face, brows furrowed, eyes fixed on the horizon, he almost saw a tongue peeking through the dragon’s lips. Then green lightning shines on Deku’s hinder legs again and the dragon jumps. 

With the sand flying everywhere and leaving a huge hole on the ground it is even more impressive, but what really makes Katsuki’s jaw drop is the distance Izuku cover with just one jump. The dragon looks like a small little dark green dot on the horizon.

“GOOD! NOW JUMP BACK!” Katsuki screams motioning with his hand for Deku to return.

And Izuku jumps. Too fast, too far, straight on the rocky side of the mountain. 

He knocks on the mountain head first then tumbles down hitting every rock on the way down.

Katsuki’s heart stops when he realizes what happened. He runs towards Izuku but there is nothing he can do besides watch the big dragon bang against every little crevice of the cliff until he falls back on the sand unconscious.

“DEKU!”

“IZUKU!”

Both Vikings crowd around the passed out dragon.

“OH MY GODS, HE IS HURT!”

“I DIDN’T KNOW HE WAS GOING TO DO A FUCKING BIGGER JUMP!”

Izuku’s wings were in an awful unnatural position, they were beyond broken, it looked like there were no more bones inside it. He had cuts through his whole body, blood staining his hide.

“Auhm” Izuku moans in pain but begins blinking his green eyes open.

“Deku! Don’t fucking move! You are hurt”, Katsuki says trying to put Izuku’s paws in a more comfortable position. But the dragon’s legs were too big for him to maneuver easily, and Deku cries in pain. “Shit! Fuck! What do we do? Where are you hurting? Your wings look bad!”

Katsuki fusses over the dragon but completely at a loss in how to help, Kirishima kneels by Izuku’s head and pets the dragon gently. “I’m sorry, bro. We didn’t think this through and now you are hurt.”

Izuku closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and shifts into his human form.

“Deku! That is dangerous! The fuck you are doing?!”

“Calm down, Kacchan. It’s not my first time getting hurt by One for All. I’m gonna be ok, just need a couple of days to recover.”

“A couple of days?! Deku, your wing is pulverized!” Katsuki screams. He doesn’t know how to deal with the mix of worry and guilt he feels, so he resorts to anger like usual. Every inch of Izuku's body is angry red, bruising up and soon the boy would be all black and blue.

“I know. Calm down, Kacchan. It’s alright, these things happen, it was not your fault. I’m just gonna be here for a few days until I’m good enough to fly. You know dragons heal fast.” 

Katsuki takes a step back and looks around. He can’t leave Izuku here. There is no source of freshwater, barely any cover from the sun, and the fishermen’s boats could see him. It was too dangerous. No, Katsuki is the one who got Izuku hurt so he is who will take care of him while he gets better.

“No, I’m taking you home, Deku.”

“What?”

“What? We can’t take a dragon to the village, Bakugou! If they find out, they will kill him!” Kirishima says freaking out.

“Then they won’t find out. Deku can keep his human form for hours. So we will just sneak him into my room, he will stay there until he is healed, then we sneak him out. Easy.”

“I don’t know, Kacchan… It seems dangerous”, Izuku says warily.

“Bro, no way this will work”, Kirishima agrees.

“Think, Shitty Hair. We can’t let Izuku alone for days, someone might find him. If he is in dragon form, they will kill him on sight. If he is in human form, they will take him to my mother. He can’t fly, I bet he can’t even walk!”

“I can walk!” Izuku says and tries to get up just to fall back on his ass with a painful cry when his legs give in.

“See?” Katsuki says to the other Viking.

“I know! I know! Alright, you are right. Let’s take Izuku home.”

…

Izuku tried to protest, but the two boys were resolute. They carried him on their backs, half the time for each Viking, all the way back to their village. It was quite a long trip and when they arrived, the sun was already setting. That was good because it would be easier to pass through the village without getting noticed, but it would also make it harder to sneak in Katsuki’s room.

“Welcome to Musutafu, Izuku. Here is where we live.” Kirishima announces proudly when the little houses get into their line of sight.

“Wow! I’ve never seen a human settlement before!” Deku says excitedly.

“And you ain’t gonna see it now. We are just passing through and you are staying hidden in my room until we can sneak you out, shitty dragon”, Katsuki grunts at the boy on his back.

“How exactly are we going to pass with him through the middle of the village without anyone seeing him, bro?” Kirishima asks.

“I’m taking the back alleys, and you are going in the front to help. If you cross with someone, you gonna need to trick them into going away. Think you can manage that, Shitty Hair?”

Kirishima clicks his tongue, “sure bro, I’ve got the best lies and tricks. I can totally do that.”

Bakugou rolls his eyes thinking that Kirishima was the one who came up with the shitty sheep herding competition in the first place.

They walk quietly for the rest of the way. Bakugou can feel Izuku’s anxiety coming out in waves, but he doesn’t have anything to offer the dragon as some solace. 

Once they really enter the village, it’s already night and they duck in the shadows making way towards Katsuki’s house. Kirishima is several feet ahead of them, looking around corners like he thinks he is a ninja. Anyone with half a brain would realize the fucker is up to something, but at least they would focus on him and not on Katsuki and his cargo.

And as expected, it didn’t take long for Kirishima to find his first challenge.

“Mister Kaminari!” The redhead says loudly to let Katsuki know he found Kaminari’s father ahead. “How are you in this fine evening?”

“Eijirou… Denki was looking for you today, said you have been sneaking away with Katsuki.” Mister Kaminari asked nonchalantly, probably just making conversation, but Kirishima freaks out.

“WHAT? ME AND BAKUBRO? NO, WE WOULD NEVER SNEAK AWAY. WE WERE TRAINING! YEAH, JUST GOOD OLD NOT-AGAINST-THE-RULES TRAINING” Kirishima answers way too loudly and Katsuki feels like facepalming. The fucking idiot can’t keep cool to save his life.

Bakugou decides that this conversation will take too long when Mister Kaminari inquires what kind of training they were doing, so he takes another alley and keeps going towards his house. It’s just a few more blocks but he hears several voices ahead and has to stop completely.

“Kacchan, I think we are surrounded”, Izuku whispers in his ears making Katsuki shiver.

“Be quiet, shitty Deku”, Katsuki whispers back.

They hear heavy steps on the back and Katsuki’s heart stops. Shit, they were screwed.

“Found you! I managed to send Mister Kaminari away”, or maybe not.

“Shut up, Shitty Hair. You almost gave me a freaking heart attack!”

“Hey! I did a great job back there, don’t get all snappy on me now!” Eijirou whines.

“Great job? You did shit! If Mister Kaminari didn’t have suspicions before, he has now! You almost got us discovered!”

“Discovered by who?” a fourth voice appears from the right and the three of them look at the source completely mortified.

Yamada Hisashi, village’s bard and Aizawa’s partner is standing just a few feet looking straight at them. Fuck.

“Discovered by Katsuki’s parents! You see, Katsuki’s cousin just arrived in the village unannounced and they plan to surprise Misses and Mister Bakugou!” Kirishima says with a huge fake smile.

“And why is the cousin on your back, Bakugou?” Yamada asks with a raised eyebrow.

“He-... He got hurt.” Katsuki says uncertain.

“Yeah, twisted his ankle. Ugly thing, that is why we need to get him home as soon as possible! Bye, Mister Yamada!” Kirishima says while pushing Katsuki by the shoulder so they can get away. 

When they turn a corner and are not seen by Yamada anymore, they run. They run all the way back to Katsuki’s house so fast that no one manages to get a good look at them.

“That was close”, Kirishima pants when they stop hidden near Katsuki’s house.

“Close? It wasn’t fucking close, we got caught, idiot!” Katsuki barks at him.

“Yeah, but I’ve created a good excuse. Besides, Mister Yamada is going to work on the pub now. He won’t remember by tomorrow morning.”

“Whatever, now we need to get in the house. Knock on the door and distract the old hag and my old man, I’m gonna jump through the study’s window.”

"Distract them with what?" Kirishima asks a little taken back.

"I don't fucking know! Make some shit up! Just don't mention any shitty sheep herding competitions." Bakugou grunts and leaves towards the window on the other side of the house. "We gonna need to be very quiet inside the house, Deku. Don't even breathe too loudly", he whispers to the boy on his back and feels Izuku nodding against his shoulder.

Katsuki positions himself to climb the window. It is much harder than usual since he has Deku on his back, the boy’s weight is much greater than his small frame would indicate. Still he is not as heavy as he is in his full dragon form though, so maybe Bakugou should thank the gods for how this weird dragon magic works.

"Exactly, Miss Bakugou. We, the young Vikings on this island, are worried about lack of sheep representation on the council. The herds are an integral part of our society and is staggering their lack of voice in the political aspect…" 

Kirishima's voice comes from the front of the house and Katsuki almost hits his own head against the window frame. But he soldiers on through the bullshit he is hearing and finally lands inside his mother's study.

Alright, now all he has to do is go up the stairs at the end of the hallway and they-

"Oh my gods, Kacchan! That is the most incredible thing I ever seen!" Izuku says while trying to get off his back.

"The fuck? Shut up, Deku! Be quiet and don't fucking move!" Bakugou tries whispering but he is struggling to keep Izuku still on his back right now, the idiotic boy keeps trying to get away.

"But I need to see them! Please! I've never seen so many!" Izuku says in wonder.

"So many fucking what, Deku? What is so important that you want to get fucking caught?!"

"Books! So many books!" At this point Izuku gave up trying to get Katsuki to drop him, so he just grabs a book close by and tucks on his chest.

"I will bring you shitty books later! Now we  **gotta go!** " And with that Bakugou runs out of the office and up the stairs as fast as he can.

Only when he finally slams his bedroom door shut he dares to breath. "Oh shit. I can't believe we made it", he sighs and gives a few tumbling steps to drop Deku on his bed.

"Kacchan! You have books here too!" Izuku exclaims looking at the handful of history and battle books that Aizawa made them study.

"Yeah, shitty books everywhere. I should crack your fucking skull with then for the shitty stunt you pulled down there! We were almost caught!" Katsuki screams at the dragon.

Izuku pouts, "I just have never seen so many, Kacchan. It looks pretty amazing."

"Amazing is how  **I** managed to get your ass here in one piece!" 

"Yeah, that was pretty amazing too. Kacchan is always amazing", Izuku says with a kind smile and Katsuki can't help the blush that creeps on his cheeks.

"Flattery won't get you shit, Deku. You are on my blacklist until you learn how to be fucking stealthy. Now be quiet while I go back down to get us food and mislead my parents about when I got home and if I have to pull another shitty sheep excuse, I'm kicking your sorry ass back to your island!"

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Kiri, flying is scary ~(>_<~)
> 
> Poor Izuku, he got hurt (╥﹏╥)
> 
> Poor Baku, there is no way the dragon will stay hidden in his bedroom (¬‿¬ )


	11. How to entertain a dragon

**How to entertain a dragon**

Bakugou Katsuki believes it was nothing short of a miracle that made the first night of Deku on his house pass by unnoticed by his parents. Katsuki did his best to act normal during dinner and he lucked out because the old hag wanted to talk to his dad about some boring Village politics stuff, so he managed to sneak a bowl of soup and a piece of bread for Deku in his bedroom.

The dragon gushed so much about how delicious the food was, he had never tried anything like it since Bakugou can’t bring stews on his bag for their meetings. After he had eaten, Deku annoyed the living shit out of Katsuki to be given the books. Bakugou argued that it was already late, it was too dark to read and they needed to sleep. But the big lizard was adamant and only settled down in bed when Katsuki left all his books in Izuku’s reach.

Before going to sleep, Katsuki put on a healing balm on Izuku’s back even if the boy said he would heal anyway. Bakugou laid down a few pelts and a pillow for himself on the wood floor next to the bed while Izuku took his bed. The dragon protested when he realized that was where Katsuki usually slept saying he always sleeps on the floor so he wouldn’t mind. But Katsuki was having none of it, the stupid dragon was hurt and should sleep on the bed.

The first rays of the sun peeking through the window woke Katsuki up from his slumber, and he feels like it is raining on his face.  The fuck? How is it raining if the sun is shining? He cleans the water off his face, but the water is sticky. Since when is water sticky? Katsuki opens his eyes and sees a huge dragon head hanging out of the bed and dripping drool on top of him. 

“Fucking disgusting stupid lizard! You drooled on me!” Bakugou barks pushing Izuku’s head away but that doesn’t do anything to wake up the sleeping dragon. Katsuki gets up from the floor ready to scream more, but then he sees Izuku’s wings. They look just as bad as yesterday.

The proud, powerful wings that a couple of days ago were taking him flying over the waves now stand useless on the dragon’s back. Broken and crooked. No matter what Izuku says, this injury looks worse than even the one Katsuki inflicted on him when they met. And, just like that time, it was all Katsuki’s fault.

Whatever, no point in moping over this. He will do what he had done before: if it is his fault that Izuku is hurt, it is his responsibility to take care of the dragon until he gets better. And it’s not gonna be that hard, all he needs to do is keep Izuku fed and safe for some days. Talking about fed, Bakugou should go to the kitchen to grab food now that it is too early and his parents will be sleeping… and maybe wash his face.

Some minutes later, Katsuki goes back to his room washed and carrying a basket with bread, cheese, fruits and a pitch of water. He finds Izuku in human form sitting in bed flipping through the pages of a book. “Morning, nerd.”

“Morning, Kacchan,” Izuku says with a big smile that contraries the deep purple bruises that peek from the V neck on his shirt and blemish his face. “What is a nerd?”

“Some idiot who gambles getting fucking killed because of one shitty book.” Katsuki says sitting on the bed with Deku and presenting him the food.

“It’s not just one book, Kacchan. There were several!” Izuku argues while picking an apple.

“Still doesn’t justify getting caught, asshole! You need to be smarter! I’m gonna have to leave you here for a while, if no one sees me around the village they may come looking for me here and then they would find you. You gotta stay quiet and don’t give anyone any reason to think my room isn’t empty, alright?”

“Can I keep the books?” Izuku asks nonchalantly.

“Sure, why the fuck not. Knock yourself out with the shitty books for all I care.”

“Alright, I can stay here then”, Izuku says smiling.

“I’m gonna train with the training dummies on the back of the house. You can see me from that window.” Bakugou says pointing to a small window on the other side of the room. “But you shouldn’t because you need to stay in bed and if you show up on the window someone else might see you. This amount of food should last you until dinner, I’ll bring you more when the sun goes down and I have an excuse to go back to my room. Understood?”

“Understood”, Deku says still looking at the book and savoring his apple. Katsuki has a nagging feeling the dragon isn’t taking this as seriously as he should so he tries giving the same orders again before taking his training sword and going down to the back of the house.

He doesn’t usually practice here since they only have two dummies and not much space. He prefers training on the common grounds with the other young Vikings. They are a bunch of brain dead extras, but at least they move slightly more than the dummies. Besides, here his father can keep an eye on him and his mother may drop between her meetings and shit to talk to the old man.

But today he doesn’t have a choice, so he begins repeating some very complex sword moves just to be able to say that he is training on his own because none of the other boys his age could keep up with what he is trying to do. From time to time he checks on his bedroom window, equal parts hoping and dreading to see Deku’s face peeking through.

His father called him for lunch when the sun was high, his mother had received some goat mince pies that were actually delicious. He saved a big piece for Deku wrapping it in cloth, he said politely to his parents that since he was training so hard he might get hungry later (“I’M A GROWING WARRIOR, OLD HAG, I NEED TO EAT!” “YOU ARE A BOTTOMLESS PIT, BRAT, AND I’M AFRAID YOU ARE GOING EAT THE WALLS SOON ENOUGH”).

Katsuki grabs the wrapped pie and leaves the kitchen thinking about checking out on Deku quickly before going back to train. However, when he turns the corner towards the hallway that leads to the stairs to his bedroom, he sees the shitty stupid dragon entering his mother’s study. Bakugou panics since he can still hear the sounds of his parents in the kitchen, pushes Izuku inside the study and closes the door.

“What the fuck are you doing here?!” Katsuki whispers furiously.

“I wanted to get more books,” Izuku says as if he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“You can’t fucking leave the room, Deku! I explained that shit to you!”

“But I finished the books you left me, and I want more”, the dragon whines.

“How the fuck did you read all those books already?! Is it another kind of shitty dragon magic?”

“Oh, I haven’t read them, I looked at them. It would be great if I knew how to read, I’m sure I’d learn even more.” Izuku says with a smile and Katsuki fights the urge to facepalm.

“You can’t fucking read?! Why the fuck are you so obsessed with shitty books if you CAN’T FUCKING READ?” Katsuki feels his sanity dripping away through his ear.

“Don’t scream, Kacchan! You parents might hear!” Izuku whispers, “and books sometimes have pictures in them… and I like to look at the words, they look so pretty… I’d love to know how to read…” 

Izuku finishes with a very sad expression and that halts any urge Katsuki was feeling to scream at him some more. The idiotic dragon was never taught how to read, and he thinks the five books Katsuki has laying around are a lot. He probably has seen just a couple of books in his whole lifetime, and even though his kind obviously doesn’t see the value of written knowledge, the shitty dragon is such a nerd that he wants to read anyway.

“I’m sure I have some documents about that right here, Masaru. Let me just go pick them up”, the old hag’s voice sounds on the hallway and Katsuki panics again.

They need to leave and fast! He grabs Izuku’s arm and runs to jump out of the window. Luckily the shitty dragon notices that something is wrong and follows his lead without saying a word. They climb down the window and hide beneath the window sill. Bakugou closes Izuku’s mouth with his hand just in case the other boy has the idiotic idea of speaking while his mother is in the room.

“Found them! Knew they were here, come take a look!” Mitsuki’s voice sounds from the inside of the house. It looks like their parents aren’t going to leave the study so soon, and now they are out of the house without any safe way of coming back in, completely out in the open. Fuck.

Thinking that staying there will give them higher chances of getting caught, Katsuki tugs on Izuku’s wrist and they get moving. Where can they even go? Maybe out of the village? But Izuku is still very hurt, he can’t walk so far. Maybe to Kirishima’s house? Shitty Hair’s parents would probably be out working, so that might be an option.

Katsuki ducks in a back alley while he thinks where they can go. They can’t just keep walking aimlessly, that is the quickest way of getting caught. Will Kirishima even be at his house? They agreed that the redhead would go training with the other useless extras today, so that none of them came looking for Bakugou. Well, even though Kirishima may not be there, it is still the safest place to be since the only person who can find them there is Shitty Hair himself.

“Alright, Deku. I know where we are going, so just stay quiet and…” Katsuki halts what he is saying because he notices that  **fucking Deku isn’t by his side!** “Deku! Deku!”

Bakugou looks around frantic, where the fuck is the stupid dragon? Did Katsuki leave him behind? Was he caught by someone else? “Deku! Deku!” Oh my god, they must have found him! They found him and now they are going to kill him! “Deku! Deku!” Stupid shitty dragon! How could he allow himself to get in danger? He can’t get hurt, he is Katsuki’s dragon! Katsuki runs blindly out of the alley looking for Deku, maybe he could fight off whoever caught him and they could make a run for it. 

Then he sees it, the stupid boy grinning widely and laughing with the shitty baker’s son while holding two pieces of honey bread. Deku seemed to be talking merrily with Sato. So the whole fucking speech of ‘don’t get caught’ isn’t worth a flying fuck for the shitty dragon?! How could he do this?!

“SHITTY DEKU, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?” Bakugou screams while approaching them.

“Hi, Kacchan! Look what Sato gave us!” the idiot says smiling brightly and presenting the two small bread loaves.

“Good afternoon, Bakugou. Izuku here has never seen sweet bread before, did you know? Apparently, in his village, it is not a common recipe.” The useless baker says with an idiotic smile on his face.

"Yeah, this fucker comes from the end of the fucking world, nothing good got there yet," Katsuki says fuming.

"Oh, and why are you in our village, Izuku? Study, tourism?" The shitty extra ignores Katsuki and talks directly with  _ his _ dragon! Who gave him the right?!

"Oh, I'm here for-"

"Study, shitty Deku here is part of an exchange students program. Now let's fucking go, you are late for class." Katsuki barks and pulls Izuku away by his wrist.

Izuku already has one of the honey buns in his mouth, "Kacchan! This is delicious! You need to try it!"

"I don't need to try shit, you fuckin-" Izuku shoves the other bun in Katsuki's mouth before the Viking can finish his statement.

"Delicious, right?" Izuku says smiling and Katsuki intends to eat the bun before telling the dragon to go fuck himself because he was not raised in a barn and will not speak with his mouth full. 

However, before Katsuki can get around to it, Izuku runs off again towards the busy market. And now they are officially screwed.

Izuku’s eyes are shining brightly, he clearly has never seen so many  _ things and people _ on the same place. He browses through the marketstands picking up things to look and walking away with them completely dumbfounded (and not  _ paying for anything! _ ). The dragon looks fascinated by the pelts, pots, and everyday utensils like they were treasures.

"Look, Kacchan! So pretty! What is it for?" Izuku says putting a soup bowl on his head like a hat.

"It's for eating, just put it back!... No, not here! You took this from that other stand! I'm sorry, misses, the fucker is bad in the head… Fucking Deku! Drop this now!"

"But I like this! It's so pretty and soft!" Izuku says hugging a ladies' frilly underpants. They are small light pink shorts with ruffles on the legs made out soft cotton. Why the fuck the shitty vendors are letting these kinds of things out in the open?! 

"Are you gonna pay for this, boy?" The vendor asks grumpily, clearly not amused by a teenage boy hugging his goods. 

Before Katsuki can make Izuku drop the item back, the dragon keeps walking towards the next stall still hugging and nuzzling the cotton piece. Bakugou grunts and takes a couple of coins from his pocket, he prays that this is enough and leaves them on the vendor's counter before going after his runaway dragon.

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU, ASSHOLE!" Katsuki screams while slapping Izuku's hand away from some flowers the florist Ibara was offering him.

"Kacchan!" Izuku exclaims looking hurt.

"You can't just fucking grab things! The fuck is wrong with you?" Katsuki will not be swayed by the dragon's kicked puppy expression, the fucker has got to learn some fucking manners!

"Bakugou, please control your temper. Izuku was just accepting a humble gift", Ibasa says glaring at him, then she turns with a sweet smile to Izuku and gives him the flower. "Here you go, dear. Now tell me, you have family in town? Where are you staying?"

"He is Kirishima's cousin… second removed. I'm taking him to Shitty Hair's house right now so we gotta go", Katsuki snarls at Deku who finally has the decency of looking embarrassed.

"Thank you so much, Shiozaki! I have to go with Kacchan now!" Izuku says with a huge smile to the woman.

"You are very welcome, Izuku! Please come back to talk soon!" Ibara answers smiling just as happily. 

The fuck!? He was less than a minute behind shitty Deku, how the fuck did they become friends so fast?! This shit doesn't even make sense! Katsuki has lived in this shitty village his whole life and he has never received free honey bread or flowers!

"Look, Kacchan! We are in luck! There is Kirishima!" Izuku says happily waving to somewhere behind Bakugou's line of sight. Shit, this can't be good.

And when he sees who is coming, Katsuki can't help the grunt that comes out of him. His worst nightmare is taking shape right in front of his eyes. Is it too late to run away? Because right now Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero are walking towards them and Katsuki is not ready to deal with this kind of bullshit.

"Izuku! What- How-" Kirishima smiles anxiously without knowing what to say.

"Hey man! You must be Bakugou's cousin! My father told me he met you last night! I'm Kaminari Denki, nice to meet you!" Dunce Face introduces himself smiling like the idiot he is.

"Nice to meet you too, Kaminari Denki! I'm Izuku!" The shitty dragon answers with a smile to rival the sun.

No wonders the whole village is enamored with Deku, the idiot smiles like the sun is coming out of their asses! Doesn't he have any sense of what is an appropriate greeting to strangers?!

"Call me Denki, man! Any relative of Baku is our friend!"

"Hey, Izuku! I'm Hanta! What brings you here to our humble village? I didn't even know the Bakugous had family in other villages!"

"Study" Bakugou says at the same time that Kirishima blurts "Family business". Shit.

"He is studying the family business", Shitty Hair completes. "You know, politics and leatherworking, important stuff."

"Politics and… leatherworking?" Soy Sauce asks raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the shitty nerd wouldn't cross the whole fucking continent to learn just one thing, idiot." Bakugou grunts. If this is their cover, might as well try to sell it.

"And how long are you staying for?" Dunce Face asks Deku.

"For as long as he needs to. Shitty nosy fuckers, what the fuck is this?! A questioning? Leave us alone!" Katsuki screams and grabs Izuku's wrist to run away.

But Kaminari holds onto Izuku's other wrist, "Come on, Baku! Nothing interesting ever happens here! We wanna talk to the new guy too!"

"No! We need to fucking go!" Katsuki says pushing Izuku harder, but Dunce Face stands his ground.

"Just a little bit-"

"Kacchan..." Izuku cries, "it's hurting…"

Bakugou lets go the moment he realizes Izuku is in pain. The dragon hugs his flower and frilly underpants against his chest and looks a little wary at the other boys. Dunce Face and Soy Sauce have big dumb smiles, completely oblivious. Shit, there is no way out of this right?

"Whatever, let's take him to the training grounds and we can all hang out for a while" Bakugou concedes. He really can't catch a fucking break.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tag: Bakugou Katsuki Can't Catch a Break
> 
> Anyway, I created a Curious Cat to answer questions about my fics and any other questions you have (though I honestly don't think people have questions, but so be it). I'll answer absolutely every question, even the ones about those dreaded early chapters of Caught Up (what was Izuku thinking? what was Mina thinking? what as **I** thinking?)  
> You can find me in [curiouscat.me/MikaCrispy](https://curiouscat.me/MikaCrispy) :D


	12. How to mingle with humans

**How to mingle with humans**

The human village isn't remotely close to anything that Izuku expected. It's so confusing, filled with so many unsaid rules and expectations that Izuku feels like they don't all speak the same language; but at the same time it is so full of life and ingenuity that the dragon was immediately captivated.

In just a few minutes walking around the village he got to see and meet so many nice people! And he even received gifts like the honey bread, the flower, and the tiny pink pants! Sure, some humans looked a little grumpy, but nothing as extreme as the bloodthirsty beasts Izuku was told they were.

Now he is watching Kacchan's friends train and joke around. The sudden eagerness of the other boys to talk to him made Izuku a little antsy on the first moment. But soon enough he figured Kaminari and Sero were just as kind and friendly as Kirishima and Kacchan, and that they were just excited to meet a new friend.

Kaminari is fast as lightning, jumping around and asking a million questions. Sero is calmer but just as warm and welcoming. The five of them are gathered in the human's training grounds sharing stories about their lives. They all grew up together and Izuku is loving to hear their stories from when they were whelpings.

"The only thing worse than Kirishima's archery skills is Kaminari with the ax! Dude, how many times did you strike the thing somewhere that you couldn't pull it out?" Sero teases and laughs openly.

"Oh man, the ax is so hard! I spent months repeating basic exercises before Aizawa let me go back to the spear." Kaminari whines and drapes his body around Izuku's shoulders in a hug. "I don't want to get close to an ax ever again, Izuku. Can I hide with you in your village if they make me train with an ax again?"

Kaminari is a very touchy human, even more so than Kirishima. This reminds the dragon of his friends back home; he was under the impression that humans weren't as tactile as dragons but now he supposes it depends on the human. Izuku finds it very cute how Kaminari does anything for skinship and nuzzles against his neck like scenting as he would do with Ochako when she needs some extra loving.

"If you fuckers spend the whole day talking shit to Deku, I'm gonna get Aizawa here to put your asses back in line! Get back to your exercises!" Kacchan barks annoyed kicking sand to get the other boys towards the training area. 

The blond looks really annoyed, but he still doesn’t really hurts his friends, just threatens them; it’s cute and completely opposite to what Izuku was told to expect about humans dealing with other humans. As soon as the three Vikings are picking up their weapons and positioning themselves against the wooden dummies, Kacchan turns to Izuku. 

"I'm gonna train with them or else the fuckers won't leave you alone. Just don't fucking move, sit tight right here or else I'll fucking kill you, got it?"

Izuku agrees, there is still so much he wants to see in the village but watching the four humans interact freely with each other seems quite interesting too. The way they swing their weapons against the fake enemies is scary at first sight. They scream and grunt, dealing powerful blows against the wood that creaks and whines. But after some moments watching them, Izuku starts picking up some details that change completely his view of the process.

The first important point is that none of the boys fight the same way. Not only they use different weapons who demand a unique set of movements; but the spirit with each one attacks is completely their own. Katsuki's style is clearly a strategic one, each movement is made trying to apply the biggest damage with the lowest effort. Kirishima is more of a 'raw power' kind of fighter, Kaminari is quick on his feet and never stands still, Sero uses anything as a weapon in the most unexpected of ways (shield, belt, anything really).

That on its own shouldn't grab Izuku's attention as something special since every dragon had their own way of fighting since their styles come from their quirks. Every quirk demands a specific fighting style, so no two dragons ever battle the same way. However, that is the thing: dragons have quirks to develop their fighting around, but humans don't. Physically, there isn't much difference between the four boys; and in dragon-world that would mean their fighting styles would have to be similar.

But, Izuku supposed, following the logical way was not a human thing. For starters, it wasn't logical that such feeble creatures should wield these powerful weapons and oppose the strongest creatures in the world by their sheer will and stubbornness alone; but that is exactly what humans do.

Which brings us to the second important point: the lengths these humans go to hone their skills. Sure, dragons train. Or, at least, Izuku thought they did; now he is not so sure. Because what dragons call training is more in the lines of 'doing a handful of test runs to get a better hang on things', while what the humans call training is 'repeating the same set of movements so many times that your brain turns to mush'.

Izuku thought it was funny how Kacchan would ask to go again so many times when they began training with Izuku's teeth and rough-housing in the sand. But after a while he just brushed off the idea thinking Kacchan was having fun like he was. Now things make more sense to Izuku, training for the humans really means to put a lot of hard work.

He supposes it makes some kind of sense. As already stated, humans are delicate creatures without any natural power besides their big brains. For battling and hunting brains can only get you so far, some kind of physical ability is needed. While dragons are naturally gifted in this aspect and don't really need to learn anything much different than what their instincts tell them to; humans start from zero and build every one of their battle skills from scratch with repetitive work.

Suddenly Izuku understands how insufficient his 'training' has been during his whole life. No one ever told him  **_that_ ** is how you develop a skill. All the other dragons get these kinds of things right on the first try, 'it's instincts' they would say 'just wish for it and your teeth will come. Just try and your power should work'. 

But that didn't work with Izuku, and he ended up most of his days lazing around desert islands giving a try or two a day to see if his teeth were working already. He never spent hours upon hours trying and failing to do something, and he doesn't think any dragon has ever done that either.

Wolfs, sharks, bears, all other creatures accept the powers nature gave them without second guessing it. But humans don't. Humans ignore every natural call and do their own thing even if it leaves then pained and strained.

And Kacchan seems to be the most hardworking of all. After an hour or so, the other boys get distracted, begin joking with each other again; but Kacchan doesn't waver. His focus is still sharp, and his movements with the broadsword, perfect.

His friend only seems to be pulled out of his concentration when any of the other three boys decides to take a break and talk to Izuku. The first one to try is Sero asking if Izuku knows how to use any of those weapons and how is life back in his village. The dragon hates the idea of lying to such a genuine and welcoming person, so he gives a half version of the truth.

“In my village I’m not really a warrior, so I don’t know how to use any weapons. And that is why I’m here, so I can learn things and be able to help my friends back home.” Izuku explains smiling to the other boy. Sero looks like he wants to ask more questions, but before he can get the words out he is thrown back to the middle of the training ground by an angry Kacchan. “

“If you have time to idle, you have time to take a beating! On your guard, asshole!” The blond screams before charging against Sero.

Kaminari seems to think that, now that Kacchan is busy with Sero, now it’s his time to get to know Izuku better. “So tell me, man, any cute girls back where you come from? Any chance we get to know them?”

That question is a little unexpected for Izuku, but he decides to go with the same kind of answer he gave Sero -  the truth, kind of. 

“Yeah, there are many handsome and gorgeous residents in my village.” 

“Oh… handsome? So I suppose that your village is cool with same sex couples too? That is nice. Here in Musutafu it’s pretty common, but I’ve heard some other villages don’t really accept-.” Kaminari ponders before being rudely interrupted by a sword being struck near his feet.

“GET THE FUCK BACK TO TRAINING, DUNCE FACE!” Kacchan screams and Kaminari runs away from Izuku’s side.

The last one to try talking to him is Kirishima, at the time that Katsuki is making Kaminari and Sero runs laps across the field while threatening them with his ax. The redhead sits by his side and whispers quietly to him.

“Hey, bro, how are your injuries?”

“They are healing. Kacchan helps me put a balm on them very often, but the worse parts are my wings. They are still going to take some more days before they are in any condition to fly.”

Kirishima nods understandingly, “well, it’s an awful thing that you are stuck here because of an injury. But I’m glad you got to meet our friends and our home, I hope you enjoy your stay.” Kirishima gives him a kind sharky smile to which Izuku returns in kind.

“It’s been great to get to know more humans! Most of them have been really kind and welcoming, I’m glad I got this opportunity too!” Izuku hugs Kirishima to convey his feelings to the boy.

“THAT IS IT, WE ARE GOING HOME! NO MORE TRAINING TODAY, LET’S GO DEKU!” Katsuki barks from the distance while marching towards them. His face is red from his anger and exertion, Kaminari and Sero follow behind him panting and laughing.

“Damn, Baku! You are too possessive, we want to talk with Izuku too!” Kaminari teases.

“THAT IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM. IF YOU WANT IT SO BAD, GET YOUR OWN FUCKING DR-... COUSIN! LET’S GO, DEKU.” Kacchan says dragging Izuku by his wrist away from the training grounds.

“Bye Izuku! We will see you soon!” Kirishima waves and Izuku waves back while being taken away by Kacchan.

“Come back tomorrow! We want to talk more!” Sero screams and Kaminari completes “Yeah! Come back tomorrow without Bakugou so we can actually talk!”

…

Kacchan is fuming all the way to his house. Some other villagers try talking to them to find out who Izuku is, but the young Viking blow them off with a series of unrehearsed excuses. ‘Dad’s third cousin twice removed’, ‘he is here to learn about leather working history’, ‘he came to bring the rules about the sheep herding competition’, just to cite a few.

Izuku tried pointing out that maybe it was smarter to keep with one unique excuse, but Kacchan told him to shut up then mumbled something about hating to lie. Kacchan is the cutest and earnest human of all, he can’t lie to his people so he freaks out everytime he needs to say something that isn’t true. Izuku can’t help but find it endearing, even if it may bring them trouble in the future.

They sneak in back into Kacchan’s house easily since it was early and his parents were still out working. Leaving Izuku alone in the bedroom, Katsuki went back downstairs to wash the grime off and grab some food. Izuku, however, had different plans.

As soon as Katsuki was out of earshot, he got off the room and went to the study to see the books again. There are dozens of books there, with all types of covers and sizes. It’s fascinating for Izuku and he can’t keep himself away even though he knows it’s incredibly dangerous for him to be out of Kacchan’s room.

Izuku picks a really big book out of the shelf and begins going over it. The pages are filled with words and the dragon can’t help but wonder how much knowledge those pages are keeping. Dragon’s knowledge is passed by family and by mentors to the young whelpings. They don’t write things in books to survive the eternity, as humans do; once a dragon dies, every knowledge he didn’t pass on is gone with him.

Izuku would love to know what the great dragons of centuries ago talked about. Did they have the same issues they have today? Did their home change at all or was it still the same scenery as it was before his great-grandmother was born? Humans know those kinds of things because humans write it down with their fancy written words. Humans can know everything there is to know in the world if they just bother to write it down and read it to others.

“I knew you wouldn’t stay put, fucking nerd. Come on, we gotta go back to my room.” Kacchan shows up at the study’s door, Izuku hugs the book against his chest unconsciously. “You can bring the shitty book, though I don’t know what use it is if you can’t fucking read it.”

Izuku smiles hugging the book even closer in his chest and goes up the stairs back to Kacchan’s room. The Viking follows behind him clicking his tongue and probably rolling his eyes. In Katsuki’s room, they sit down on some pelts on the floor. Kacchan tries grabbing Izuku’s attention with food, but the dragon doesn’t take his eyes out of the big heavy book he just acquired.

“What is the big fucking deal with books anyway, nerd? How can you be a nerd if you can’t read?” Kacchan grunts biting an apple.

“It’s just there is so much… information here, Kacchan! On the tip of your fingers, all you have to do is flip some pages” Izuku demonstrates playing with the books’ leaves “and you can find out anything! Like how to cure diseases or where you can find some special fish! Maybe there can even be some explanation about why I couldn’t use my teeth or why my quirk hurts me, and I wouldn’t even know it…”

Izuku can’t help but feel dejected after explaining why books seem to be so important for him. Maybe, if dragons knew how to read and write, and they had books, then maybe Izuku wouldn’t be so useless. Maybe he would have discovered how to use his quirk without getting hurt. Maybe-

“I could teach you.” Kacchan says between mouthfuls of apple, the juice still running down his chin. Izuku looks at him with huge surprised eyes barely believing what he just heard. “It ain’t that hard, little children learn this shit. I can’t have a fucking dragon who knows less than a regular five-year old.”

“Kacchan!” Izuku can’t help the surge of emotion that goes through him and he tackles the human in a hug. “Thank you! Thank you! That would be the most amazing thing ever!”

“Alright, sit back down. You gonna hurt yourself if you keep jumping like that, idiot!” Katsuki barks at him. 

Izuku sits excitedly while Kacchan picks a few items around the room. He takes one of the smaller books he owns, a weird book that has nothing written in it (Izuku has already inspected that empty book during the time he was on his own in the room), some feathers and a small black jar. 

“This is a book”, Kacchan says waving the small book with red cover,  “and this is a notebook”, he waves the empty book. “You need to use the pen and the ink to write. These are yours now, because you can’t learn how to read without learning how to write too.”

Izuku takes the objects Kacchan offers him with reverence. Months ago he didn’t expect to ever get to know a human, but here he was now learning how to read with Kacchan. The blond Viking really was an unexpected surprise that brought so many amazing things to Izuku’s world that he can’t really see himself without Kacchan being a part of his life anymore. With way more calm and patience anyone would ever imagine him possessing, Kacchan spends the whole night teaching Izuku about letters and syllables.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Izuku will learn how to read :D  
> But, guys, these lies are getting out of hand... don't you guys think this is going to come back to bite you in the ass in the future? (￢‿￢ )
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you all liked this chapter! Please tell me your thoughts in the comments or on any other channel you prefer :D


	13. How to deal with the consequences

**How to deal with the consequences**

Katsuki woke up tangled with the dragon on the floor among pelts, books, ink, pens and papers. The sun was barely peeking through the window indicating it was about ass o’clock in the morning. The Viking blinks his eyes hazily trying to discover why the fuck did he wake up so fucking early. A violent pounding on his door and the screams of his mother answered that question quickly.

“WAKE UP, BRAT, AND UNLOCK THIS DAMN DOOR BEFORE I BUST IT OPEN!”

Shit.

Katsuki awakens instantly and begins kicking Izuku so the dragon can wake up and realize they are screwed. “Deku! Deku! Wake up!” The dragon blinks those huge green eyes sleepy at him. “Wake the fuck up! We got caught! My mom is at the door!”

That takes the dragon out of his slumber, Izuku looks terrified at the door then back at Katsuki as if asking what should he do.

“I’M WARNING YOU, BRAT, YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!”

“Hide somewhere!” is the only thing Katsuki can offer before scrambling to his feet and running to open the door that shakes on its hinges. Praying that the dragon managed to hide, Katsuki cracks the door just slightly open to scream at his mother. “THE FUCK DO YOU WANT, OLD HAG? I WAS SLEEPING!”

Mitsuki doesn’t miss a beat and pushes the door fully open. She marches inside the room as a woman on a mission and begins looking around. Katsuki runs after her and tries to physically block his mother from checking under his bed.

“The fuck are you doing, crazy old hag?”

“I’m looking for our sweet little cousin that came all the way from a VILLAGE THAT DOESN’T EXIST TO LEARN LEATHERWORKING HISTORY WITH YOUR FATHER AND HELP YOU OUT WITH A SHEEP HERDING COMPETITION, YOU LYING BRAT!” Mitsuki’s voice thunders around the small attic and Katsuki winces but tries to save face.

“There is no one here! I don’t know what the nosey fuckers in this village have told you, and I don’t care! Leave me the fuck alone and get out of my room!” Bakugou yells back.

Mitsuki takes a deep breath to calm herself and tries again. “Brat, I know you are hiding someone. Yesterday I spent the whole day in council meetings having to discuss a hundred things, but time and time again people came to interrupt my fucking meetings to tell me about how sweet and cute my little nephew is. This shit delayed my meetings for hours and I only got home after the moon was past its pinnacle.” As Mitsuki talks she crowds Katsuki's space until she is talking menacingly to his face. “The only reason I didn’t bust in your fucking room last night it was because I was tired and needed the sleep, but now I have to get back to my duties and if any other person gets in the way of my job to rat out about your damn mess, I’m going to fucking kill you!” She finishes holding Katsuki by the front of his shirt.

“Please, don’t kill him!” A small voice sounds from the shadows on the other side room. Dread pools inside Katsuki’s gut and a shiver runs down his spine. Stupid fucking Deku being a martyr, Bakugou could kill him! “Please! I’m sorry if I caused so much trouble, but it is not Kacchan’s fault!”

“Shut u-” Katsuki tries warning Deku but his mother slaps him on the back of the head shutting him up.

“So, you are the famous cousin,” Mitsuki says as Deku comes closer to them in the light.

“Hi, I’m Izuku.” The dragon is shaking like a leaf in the wind while trying to put on a brave face in front of Mitsuki. Bakugou Mitsuki, feared Viking Earl and warrior who has five big dragon teeth hanging from her neck to show the world her strength. In that small space, she looks larger than life and a part of Katsuki feels deeply proud of Deku for facing her with his head held high.

“Hi, Izuku, I’m Bakugou Mitsuki. Care to explain why the whole village thinks you are my nephew?” His mother’s voice is calm and collected, but that doesn’t ease the panic inside any of the boys.

“I…” Izuku looks terrified from Mitsuki to Katsuki without knowing what to answer. The dragon’s eyes plead for help and Katsuki’s mouth begins speaking before his brain catches up.

“He got hurt!” The young Viking blurts out. Mitsuki turns to him and raises an eyebrow as if telling him to continue. Katsuki gathers the last ounces of his resolve and speaks clearly and unwavering. “He is hurt and he can’t get home right now. I promised I’d take care of him until he was good enough to make the trip back to his people.”

“Hmm” Mitsuki gets deep in thought before asking, “how hurt is he?”

Katsuki motions for Izuku to come to him and when the boy gets close enough, he makes Izuku turn his back to Mitsuki and raises Deku’s shirt showing the ugly purple and yellow marks that spread to his whole back. Mitsuki gets closer and passes the tip of her fingers carefully over the bruises.

“What are you using to treat him?” Mitsuki asks to her son.

“The balm you gave me to use after spars”, Katsuki grumbles.

Mitsuki nods, “good, but take him to Chiyo so she can take a look. I don’t think it’s broken, but better safe than sorry, right?” She puts Izuku’s shirt back in place and pets the dragon’s fluffy hair.

Both boys look at her like she just grew another head.

“AH? Is that it? ‘Take him to the healer’?” Katsuki asks bewildered.

“What do you mean by that, brat? You didn’t think I’d actually do any harm to this nice young man who everyone said has been nothing but pleasant and polite, did you?” Mitsuki yells at her son and gives him another slap on the back of the head. “QUIT HIDING THINGS FROM US! Now both of you come down for breakfast, your father will want to meet Izuku too!”

And with that, the woman is out and the two boys look at each other trying to understand what just happened.

“Your mom… is quite something, Kacchan”, Deku manages to say.

“She is a crazy old hag, that is what she is”, Katsuki grumbles rolling his eyes. “Let’s go, she will scream at us some more if we are late for breakfast.”

…

Breakfast with his parents was an interesting event. It took less than two heartbeats for his parents to warm up to Izuku, shitty Deku seems to charm everyone that crosses his path. The dragon’s curiosity filled the conversation and he asked several things about Mitsuki’s and Masaru’s work. 

His mother couldn’t stay long, she wasn’t lying when she said she would be busy the whole day, but his father enjoyed way too much explaining every single detail about leatherworking for Izuku. One would even believe the boy actually came to the village to learn that from how many questions shitty Deku asked.

It was almost noon when Katsuki finally managed to take Izuku out of his father's eager hold and that only happened after Masaru and Izuku agreed that the dragon would spend some time in the workshop watching him work. Katsuki had to drag Izuku out by the wrist or else the dragon would stay the whole day talking to Masaru.

“Kacchan! Where are we going?” Izuku whines while being pulled by Katsuki across the village.

“We are-”, where are they going actually? Katsuki hadn’t thought about that. Finally Deku’s presence in the village isn’t a complete secret like it was before, so they can go anywhere. Sure, they still can't explain properly why Izuku is there, but they can probably keep making excuses, soon enough no one will ask. 

Before Katsuki can decide what they will do for the rest of the day, Kirishima shows up running towards them and looking frazzled.

“Baku! Izuku! I need to talk to you!” Shitty Hair says as he approaches. “We are in serious trouble!” Fuck, Katsuki thought he just got off serious trouble, and now he is into another one? Kirishima doesn’t give them time to think about it. “Follow me!” he says and takes off running to the outskirts of the village.

Katsuki and Izuku run after him without a second thought, anxiety rising rapidly. Kirishima is not the kind of person to blow things out of proportion. On the contrary, the boy usually plays what is happening down (he is not like Kaminari who apparently faces the end of the world every other Tuesday), so for him to say they are in trouble and run away means shit just got ugly.

When they are finally out of earshot from anyone, Kirishima halts, panting. Izuku and Katsuki stop right beside him, both also out of breath.

“The fuck is happening?! Tell me now, Shitty Hair!” Bakugou yells at him.

Kirishima takes another few breaths before he can speak. “A dragon has been spotted flying around our village.”

Shit. Fuck. A dragon. What does that even mean? Are they just lost? No, it can’t be. Katsuki knows better now, dragons are smart creatures and wouldn’t get lost inside human territory. Is it here to steal sheep like usual? But then it wouldn’t have been spotted flying around, when they want the sheep they come and go before any human can do anything about it. Are they here for Deku?

“What did the dragon look like? Where was it seen? How long ago?” Izuku fires one question after another without giving Kirishima time to answer. Katsuki puts a hand on the dragon’s shoulder to calm him down.

“Let Shitty Hair answer, Deku.”

“The fishing boats saw the dragon making laps around the sea and checking some small islands on the border of where the fishermen usually work on. It didn’t get close to the boats, so there was no conflict. However, just a couple of hours ago they saw the dragon coming towards inland and they sent one of the fishing boats back to warn the village warriors. I heard the fishermen talking about finding Earl Mitsuki but she refused to talk to them because she is at a meeting.” Kirishima explains hastily.

“And did they say how the dragon looks like?” Izuku asks anxious.

“They said it is really big and it’s hide is bright pink like a rose.”

Izuku eyes grow huge in surprise. “It’s Mina. I need to find her!” and with that as a warning, he shifts into his dragon form and tries to flap his wings. However, Deku’s wings are still severely broken, and the dragon cries in pain after attempting to fly.

“DEKU! DON’T DO THAT!” Katsuki jumps towards the dragon and hugs Izuku’s neck to prevent the dragon from trying to fly again. “You are hurt, idiot! You can’t fly, it’s gonna make your wings worse!”

“Calm down you two!” Kirishima says. “We can find this Mina together. Do you think it came looking for you, Izuku?” The dragon nods its big head confirming. “Then we go find Mina and explain the situation. I’m sure this dragon is just worried because Izuku hasn’t gone home for so long, right?”

Izuku nods again and Katsuki takes a deep breath. Shit, they have to fix it. Surely this dragon must think Izuku got killed by the Vikings and is looking for proof. If the dragon and the other humans meet it is going to be a bloodbath that no one needs.

“How can we find her?” Katsuki asks more to himself than to the other two. “If she is looking for Deku, we can use him as bait but we need to do this far away from the village or else things can go south really quickly.”

“Let’s climb the mountain as we used to for meeting Deku. He can call for Mina from up there. Dragon’s have great hearing, maybe this would work.” Kirishima says giving voice to the thoughts that were already in Katsuki’s head. 

It is the obvious solution, however it doesn’t make it any less dangerous. Sure Deku is a very nice and understanding dragon, but there is no way of knowing if the other dragons will be the same. Even though, waiting for this issue to go away will probably cause even bigger problems so they don’t have much choice.

“Let’s go, we need to go up that mountain as quickly as possible.”

…

The hike up is tiring, they set a quick and rough pace hoping to get this all sorted out quickly. Izuku keeps his dragon form because he can move faster that way even if he can’t use his wings. On the way there, Katsuki forms a plan. He and Kirishima are going to hide away behind the treeline and send Deku to stand near the cliff. 

From his spot, Deku will call out for Mina in his special dragon speech or whatever. When she arrives, Deku will explain he is injured but fine, and that he is hiding away safely and promises to go home as soon as possible. If everything turns out alright, Mina goes back to the dragons’ archipelago and they can breathe relieved again.

It’s not a fail-proof plan, but it is the best they got. Things need to work out accordingly or else Kirishima and Bakugou can get killed by an enraged dragon and gods only know what this Mina could do with Deku. If Bakugou thinks the new dragon is going to hurt Izuku, he will have to fight. There is no other way about it, so Katsuki is freaking out just a little bit.

When they get to the top of the mountain, they are tired and nervous.

"Alright, Deku. Go there and call her, when she gets here you tell her everything we agreed on. If you think Mina will attack you, stomp your tail on the ground twice and I will come to help you. Then you get away while I fight off the dragon, you hear me?"

Izuku looks at him with an expression that Bakugou doesn't know if it means ‘do you really think you can fight a dragon off?’ or ‘do you really think the dragon is going to attack me?’; but whatever it was Katsuki didn’t like it. He snarls at Deku for good measure before the dragon takes his place near the cliff.

Deku sits on the grass, looks at the bright blue sky and makes a weird calling towards the horizon. It sounds like a wolf howling if the wolf was a really big lizard and awfully bad at howling.  Katsuki actually has to bite back a giggle, for the sound was actually cute and didn’t fit at all with the image of dragons he had before meeting Deku.

Deku is awfully cute in his dragon form. He has those big green eyes that are so expressive, the huge toothless mouth that makes him look like a bizarre baby, his head is a little too big for his body and his paws have the hugest ‘tiny beans’ in the world. How do people think dragons are scary when looking at Deku all he can see is adorableness and-

Oh.

Alright.

**That** is why people think dragons are scary.

Ok.

It makes sense.

Katsuki won’t argue with that anymore.

Mina is freaking huge. You might think a pink dragon would also be adorable, but you are fucking wrong. Mina is terrifying. This new dragon size is easily twice Izuku’s, big protruding horns on top of the head, the wingspan might be larger than Katsuki’s house, each tooth is bigger than his hand and glowing yellow eyes with black scleras.

Izuku looks like a child next to Mina and Katsuki feels ice in his stomach as he sees that big pink dragon landing next to his Deku. Shit, now he wishes he had his good sword with him and not only his training weapon. Bakugou instinctively strengthens the hold on his sword ready to jump in at any sign of Mina attacking Izuku.

However, when Mina finally gets to the ground the dragon crowds Izuku’s space in what looks almost like a hug. Both dragons nuzzle against each other’s neck for a while before they spend a few minutes just looking at each other.

It is hard to know what is being said between them since none of the dragons makes a sound but, at some point, Mina touches Izuku’s wing with her snout carefully probably worried about his injuries. It looks like it is going fine until suddenly Izuku begins walking backward away from Mina and Mina stomps their paw on the ground annoyed.

Izuku clearly shakes his head in a ‘no’ movement, but Mina stomps their paw again even more aggressively. Izuku wails and Mina snarls and bares her teeth, and that is all it takes for Katsuki to jump out of hiding place sword in place to protect his dragon.

“STAY AWAY FROM HIM, PINK MENACE!” Katsuki screams running towards them.

After that everything happens so fast. There are lots of screaming and loud cries, Katsuki tries to put himself between Mina and Izuku but the pink dragon is just too big so he closes his eyes with his sword raised as he feels Kirishima hugging him and Izuku against his chest. That is it, Mina is going to kill them all and-

Izuku cries loudly circling the two boys with his body and Mina halts her attack looking confused at him. Again the two dragons face each other in a silent conversation that the humans aren’t allowed in.

“Deku, if this shitty dragon wants-” Katsuki tries stating his piece but Izuku’s tail snaps his mouth shut. Fucking shitty Deku, who does he think he is telling Katsuki to shut up?

It seems like an eternity, but it probably was just a few minutes before Izuku releases his hold on the boys. Mina gets closer and Kirishima cries scared shaking like a leaf, Katsuki stands his ground glaring at the her. The pink dragon sniffs them then goes back at looking at Izuku and the green dragon clearly shrugs. What the fuck?

Before Katsuki can scream at how dismissive Deku looks about them, the dragon turns back into his boy form with a big smile. “These are my friends Mina, Kacchan and Kirishima.”

The pink dragon tilts their big head before disappearing in the blink of an eye and in their place a girl shows up. A pink girl with small horns on her head and black sclera eyes just like the terrifying dragon that was just about to eat them.

“Hi! I’m Mina!” she says with a huge smile and waves at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really guys, did you think Mitsuki would be mean to Izuku? xD Mitsuki loving Izuku is my HC, that woman just wants a nice son-in-law to put her brat in check ashduiasdhu
> 
> And Mina shows up! That is exciting! Next chapter we will learn more about this powerful new dragon!
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please talk to me and tell me your thoughts about the chapter :D


	14. How to meet a new dragon

**How to meet a new dragon**

“Hi, I’m Mina!”

The girl is pink. Hair and skin, whole body is pink. And she has horns. And her eyes are black where they were supposed to be white. It takes several moments for Bakugou to get over these facts and accept that now he has a new dragon to deal with.

Luckily this one knows that humans wear clothes, the girl is wearing what looks like an exact replica of the fishermen’s attire (mid-calf brown pants, white baggy cotton shirt). However, she doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo that HUMANS AREN’T PINK AND DON’T HAVE HORNS!

“I’m Bakugou Katsuki, and this idiot is Kirishima Eijirou.” Bakugou introduces them because Shitty Hair doesn’t seem to have gotten over the surprise yet.

“Nice to meet you, Bakugou and Kirishima,” the girl says perfectly and with a big smile. “I came here looking for Izuku! Glad to know you guys are taking care of him, it makes my job much easier since I don’t have to kill you.”

“Ah? How the fuck can you talk? Deku here spent weeks mumbling like an idiot before he got the words right!” Katsuki protests. Is his dragon an idiot? He always thought Deku was smart, but maybe he was wrong.

“Kacchan!” Izuku whines. “It is not fair! I had never talked to a human before, Mina is around humans all the time!”

Is she? And how come no one told Bakugou there is a pink girl running around the village? Katsuki may not be into gossip, but he is sure he would have heard something about a pink girl with horns mingling with the locals. Fuck, they are going to need to talk about this shit.

“Let’s sit down and talk”, Katsuki grumbles. “We have a lot of shit to understand.”

Izuku and Mina nod, and the boy takes her by the hand towards the big tree they usually sit under. Katsuki motions to follow them, but then he notices Kirishima is still frozen in place.

“Hey, Shitty Hair, you fucking alive?” Katsuki says nudging his friends on the ribs with his elbow.

“She is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Kirishima answers with a dazed expression.

“The fuck?! She is pink!” Katsuki exclaims confused as he looks from the girl to Kirishima several times.

Kirishima looks at him freaked out and whispers, “Dude! Don’t make her uncomfortable or else she may want to leave!”

“But we want her to leave?!” Katsuki says exasperated.

“Is my hair alright?” Kirishima says as he pats his hair down, straightens his shirt and stands a little taller. 

“Your hair is always shit!” Is this real life? Or did Bakugou enter a different dimension where nothing makes any fucking sense?!

“You gotta help me, bro! Do you remember what I did to help Sero ask out that girl from Hosu during the last festival? We are going with that plan, ok?” Kirishima says holding Katsuki’s shoulder and looking him seriously in the eye.

“What fucking plan?! The fuck are you doing?!” Katsuki yells but Kirishima is already walking confidently towards the dragons with a winning smile in place ready to charm Mina.

Mina and Izuku are sitting down under the tree talking quietly, Bakugou sees as Kirishima grabs the girl’s hand and gives a kiss on its back. Mina and Izuku look confused at her hand as Kirishima sits down by her side with a sharky smile as if he just won the lottery. Katsuki feels the vein in his temple throb with restrained rage.

This fucking idiot wants to play the charmer with the fucking dragon they need to get rid off! What the fuck did Bakugou do in his past life to be doomed to deal with this kind of bullshit?! Whatever, he is going to need to ignore this for now and talk to Mina and ask her to leave. Katsuki takes a seat by Izuku's side grumpily glaring at Kirishima and Mina.

“So, humans, right? That is interesting! Never seen you two before!” Mina says happily.

“Yeah, explain this shit better. How the fuck are you ‘around humans all the time’?” Katsuki asks facing the girl who looks way too happy and relaxed for the kind of conversation they are about to have.

“Oh, that is my job! I follow humans the everyday at sea.”

“At sea? You mean the fishermen in the boats?” Katsuki asks confused.

“Exactly, Mina is the youngest dragon to ever be accepted in the Patrol Party! She is very famous!” Izuku explains excitedly.

“Patrol Party, really? That sounds so manly! Tell me more about your job there” Kirishima’s smile was sickening and Katsuki feels like vomiting. The fucker is even batting his eyelashes!

“The Patrol Party is the job of biggest prestige a dragon can have! Some say being an Elder is a bigger honor, but I disagree. The members of the Patrol Party spend their days patrolling our territory to make sure every other dragon is safe and protected! Only the strongest and bravest dragons are allowed in!” Izuku gushes about his friend gesticulating wildly.

“Oh, Izuku! You flatter me!” Mina smiles and gives the other dragon a half hug. “You are always our biggest supporter, no wonder everyone misses you so much back home. Anyway, it is basically what he said, but my job specifically is to swim around the boats to make sure I can act if any human gets too close to the dragons. I usually go with this form since my natural form is so big the humans in the boats would notice me swimming next to them.”

That is how she can be among humans and not be noticed even though she is pink, she is always underwater listening to them. And maybe that is where all those legends about mermaids come from…

“Alright, that explains it. So when are you leaving?” Katsuki says crossing his arms.

“Bakugou!”

“Kacchan!”

Kirishima and Izuku protest immediately, but he doesn’t give them attention. His eyes are focused on the pink girl who is still holding his Deku against her chest.

“I was sent here to find Izuku and bring him back.” She says seriously.

“He can’t go back, he is hurt.” Katsuki sticks his chin in defiance.

“And whose fault is that?” Mina’s reptilian eyes glare at him.

“No one, it was no one’s fault.” Izuku interrupts, forcing them to break their glares at each other. “Kacchan and Kirishima were helping me with my quirk because I asked them to, it was an accident.”

“Izuku, I know you want to be able to use your quirk but…”

“But they are helping me! Humans have this crazy weird way of training, they do it until it works out! It made me be able to control my teeth, I’m sure Kacchan will help me with my quirk too.” Izuku pleads, then looks around as if he is going to say a secret and speaks quietly. “Besides, Kacchan is teaching me how to read.”

Mina’s eyes grow huge in surprise, Izuku nods solemnly.

“Is it true?” The girl asks him amazed.

“What? That I’m teaching the fucking nerd how to read? Sure, he will be writing novels when I’m fucking done with him.” Bakugou says dismissively. What the fuck is it with dragons and books?

Mina nods, “well, in that case… I understand, Izuku, but everybody is very worried about you. Shouto is driving the Elders crazy, Ochako almost left the archipelago alone to look for you,  Tenya made a formal petition to be allowed to look for you in the continent and to burn down every human village if he doesn’t find you.”

“The fuck?! He can’t burn us down!” Katsuki yells.

“Of course he can’t, Kacchan. It goes against the Elders' ruling. That is why he made a formal petition.” Izuku explains to him as if he was talking to a five-year-old.

“Fuck this shit! You need to go back there and tell them Izuku is fine and he will go back when he can!” Bakugou screams at Mina.

“Or maybe you could stay for a while. I don’t know, I could show you the village, maybe eat a slice of apple pie from Mr. Sato, watch the stars together. You know, usual stuff.” Kirishima says with his face as red as his hair and a shy smile at the girl.

Bakugou looks speechless at his friend in complete disbelief. What can he even say to the idiot who wants to take the fucking pink dragon-girl on a date around the village?!

“What is an apple pie, Kacchan?”

“I have to go back to tell everyone Izuku is fine, but I also need to stay to make sure Izuku keeps being fine. This is such a confusing situation!” Mina pouts and shakes her head.

“You can go and come back later, Mina”, Izuku says smiling. “Just tell them I broke my wings training my quirk, they know how this goes. And they will probably send you back to take care of me anyway.”

Mina looks at him skeptic, “are you sure? Humans are not very smart, Izuku. They may hurt you again without even knowing. They have very tiny brains.”

“WHO THE FUCK ISN’T VERY SMART, BITCH!?” Bakugou launches himself against her, but Kirishima holds him down.

“As long as - stop it bro! - as long as you return, my sweety. - Baku, really, drop it! - I understand that you have to talk to your friends, but I’m gonna miss you every second that you are gone.” Kirishima tries keeping his charming smile while holding a raging Bakugou back. It works to some extent.

“Alright! So we can meet here tomorrow morning! What do you think, Mina?” Izuku says with a big smile.

“Sure, that sounds like a plan!”

And with a few excited goodbyes (from Izuku and Kirishima) and a few death threats (from Katsuki), Mina becomes a dragon again and flies away.

“See? Crisis solved.” Izuku says happily.

“I think I’m in love.” Kirishima swoons.

“WHAT THE FUCK YOUR WRONG WITH YOU TWO?! HAVE YOU SEEN THE SIZE OF HER?! EVERYBODY AND THEIR FUCKING GRANDMOTHER WILL SEE HER APPROACHING TOMORROW! HOW CAN YOU BOTH BE SO CALM?! WE ARE DOOMED!” Katsuki screams.

…

 

Katsuki almost lost his voice from how much he yelled at Izuku and Kirishima as they walked down the mountain. He is definitely hoarse when he and Deku arrive back to his house. Izuku tried calming him down the whole time (as Kirishima swooned and sighed about how beautiful Mina is), but Bakugou needed to vent his frustrations before getting back home.

During dinner, Bakugou lets Izuku do all the talking with his parents. Masaru and Mitsuki are excited to know what Izuku was thinking about their little village, and Deku showers them with praises. Shitty dragon is already friends with half the village from just a couple of hours walking around and somehow he remembers the extras’ names better than Katsuki (that has been living there his whole life).

As soon as they finish their stews, Bakugou drags Izuku to his room. (“It was so delicious, Mitsuki! This is the best stew I have ever eaten!”, “Oh, sweety! You flatter me! I can give you the recipe if-”, “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD IT’S JUST CARROTS AND MEAT, THIS IDIOT HAS NEVER EATEN STEW BEFORE AND HAS NO IDEA WHAT HE’S TALKING ABOUT. NOW LET’S FUCKING GO”). He needed some alone time to process everything that happened that day and he was not in the mood to hear Deku and the old hag debate the wonders of Mr. Sato’s honey bread. He storms into his room and drops down on his bed.

Izuku sits next to him on the bed and pets Katsuki’s hair lightly, “Mina is very nice, Kacchan. You don’t need to worry so much about her.”

Shitty Deku can’t keep his big mouth shut. Katsuki is SO DONE with hearing about how ‘nice and amazing’ Mina is! She is a menace, that is what she is! All big and pink and wanting to take Deku away.

“I don’t give a fuck what you think about her, shitty fanboy! I say she is bad news!” Katsuki yells and turns his back at him, but Izuku keeps petting his hair.

“She has been following boats for years and no one noticed her, I’m sure she can sneak in the mountain undetected. And she didn’t force me to go with her, I can guarantee you that I don’t know of any other dragon that would have done that.” Izuku explains softly.

“You should be allowed to stay wherever the hell you feel like”, Katsuki grumbles. He hates the idea of the other dragons forcing Izuku to stay away from him.

The dragon jumps on top of his back knocking out the air on his lungs, the little shit is heavier than he looks. “I wanna stay with Kacchan”, Izuku says happily.

Bakugou chuckles, “you big baby. Get off me or else we can’t fucking study. Don’t you wanna learn how to read?”

The words work like magic, in seconds Izuku is sitting down on the floor among his books. They ended up studying until their eyes gave up again and slept curled around one another.

…

At this point, Katsuki is used to waking up curled around a big dark green dragon but he could do without the drooling.

“Wake up, nerd. We got a mountain to climb.” Bakugou says nudging the dragon.

Izuku doesn’t give any indication to be awakening. Katsuki rolls his eyes fondly at him, what was that old saying Aizawa taught them? Never wake up a sleeping dragon? Well, Bakugou says that is bullshit; if you don’t wake the fucker up, the shitty dragon will sleep until noon.

He takes a time to check out Izuku’s wings now that the dragon is dead to the world. They are still clearly crooked, but at least they look like wings again. All the other injuries seem to have healed, the only issue is the wings now.

The image of Izuku hitting face first on the cliff and hitting against the rocks on his way down will be on Katsuki’s nightmares for years to come. It is hard to believe that in only a few days he is really almost injury-free when Bakugou really thought the dragon could have died that day. 

Wait, that is right - Izuku hit his face against the cliff. There was no reason for his wings to be in much worse shape than his head from how the injury occurred. Katsuki runs his hand through Izuku’s wings trying to understand how did they break.

He handles the wing carefully but purposefully, feeling each bone for fractures. The bones were almost pulverized, but Izuku’s hide didn’t tear so it doesn’t make sense to say his wings got hurt banging against the rocks on his way down. 

And the fractures are perfectly spread throughout the whole wingspan, that is weird, right? Finally, Izuku begins to stir in his sleep, probably Katsuki’s examination hurt somehow so he lets go of the wing. 

“Hey, Deku, wake up.” The dragon blinks his sleepy green eyes at Katsuki. “Can you shift? I need to ask you something.”

In just a couple of seconds, the big dragon becomes the small boy. However, the boy looks just as sleepy and has the world’s worst bed hair. How can he have bed hair if he slept as a dragon? Actually, how can he have bed hair if his hair is a magic projection of his sense of self? Dragon magic is very weird.

“Good morning, Kacchan”, Izuku smiles sleepily at him.

“Morning, nerd. I have something to ask you. How did your wings break?”

Izuku scratches his head, “they broke when I hit the cliff. Why?”

“But you hit on the cliff head first, how did they break so badly?” Katsuki pushes.

“Oh, that. They didn’t break from hitting the cliff, they broke from me trying to not hit the cliff.” Izuku explains while stretching lazily. He rubs his own back where his wings would be, it’s very cute.

“What?”

“That day, when I jumped I realized that I had jumped too far and that I’d hit the mountain. So I willed my quirk to my wings to try stopping the jump in the air. But my quirk came to the wings too strong and it broke them when I tried flapping.” Izuku explains gesticulating with his hands the movement of the wings and how they broke.

Katsuki takes a moment to think about it. So Izuku can will his quirk to any part of his body, but the outcome of using it is disastrous. It is almost like when Katsuki’s shoulder almost got dislocated because he swung his sword too hard. That day Aizawa taught him he couldn’t apply all the strength he had on his arm or else the rest of his body wouldn’t be able to keep up, and then made him train how to use the muscles of his back and legs to support his attacks. 

He will have to think more about it for the next time they try working on Izuku’s quirk. For now, they need to grab some breakfast and climb up the mountain to go meet Mina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kiri has found love at first sight ♥♥♥
> 
> And Bakugou just found out that his idiotic friends are not the only his competition for Izuku's attention :(((
> 
> I'm so excited with Mina becoming a bigger part of this story as we go on!! I hope you all liked it!
> 
> Thank you so much for the comments, they really make me very happy!
> 
> AND IMPORTANT NEWS:  
> How to Train Your Useless Dragon is being translated to Chinese by the wonderful [Wuwuwuwu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wuwuwuwu)  
> The first chapter is already posted and IT IS SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!!!! I love it so much!!! Thank you, Wuwuwuwu!!!!!  
> You guys chan check it out in these links:  
> [www.lofter.com/collection/iloveao3333333/op=collectionDetail&collectionId=3482143](http://www.lofter.com/collection/iloveao3333333/?op=collectionDetail&collectionId=3482143)  
> and  
> <https://weibo.com/3280788415/HwM9aehnk?type=repost#_rnd1559309104680>


	15. How to help out your friend

**How to help out your friend**

Mina is in a pickle. Things really got out of hand and now she will have to be smart to make things work out. Her situation is very delicate right now and everything started when Izuku vanished.

You see, it wasn’t so uncommon for Izuku to vanish. Since everyone around their age got into one of the parties (hunting, fishing, patrolling, and whatnot), the little dragon started feeling left behind. She knows that this was hurting him, Izuku is a very sensible dragon and can’t keep his feelings out of his thoughts. So she looked the other way from his little adventures.

It couldn’t be that bad, he usually stuck around the archipelago, exploring some less known small islands. The patrolling party is the one in charge of keeping every dragon safe, and as Izuku was about Mina’s age and one of her friends, the other dragons of the party gave her the responsibility of keeping an eye on him.

And she did! She promises she did! He was not doing anything that would raise any flags; he studied plants and animals, tried using his teeth, things like that. It seemed excessive to keep watch on him every day, Izuku is a smart dragon who wouldn’t take any unreasonable risk. And he always came back at the end of the day!

Mina thinks Shouto’s and the others’ overprotectiveness of Izuku would do more harm than good for the boy. She knows they care, Izuku is very precious to every one of their friends; but they were all smothering him! He may look like a whelpling, but Izuku is a young adult just like them! So she looked the other way sometimes and let her friend be free.

And then he didn’t come back. The first day he didn’t come back to sleep with his mother, Ochako was already set to scout every inch of land and sea. It was Inko herself that said Izuku should be fine, he sometimes lost track of time doing his thing but he certainly would be back soon.

On the second day, Tenya said they should look for him and began annoying everyone with that. On the third day, things got really out of hand - Shouto confessed he and Izuku had had an argument on the day he disappeared. Ochako was livid, there was a big fight. Mina hated having to get in the middle of some of her best friends while they were trying to rip each other a new one. 

Ochako was saying it was all Shouto’s fault and that Izuku would never come back. Shouto was saying this was all Ochako’s fault because she was Izuku’s best friend and she should have warned him sooner about flying away alone. Tenya got involved saying that, unless the Elders had said otherwise, Izuku had the right to explore the archipelago. Then somehow they all found out Mina was told to keep an eye on him and they all started screaming into each other's heads. It was awful.

That is when she got tired of waiting around and hoping her friends wouldn’t kill each other, and flew away to find Izuku. It took her two days until she heard him calling her on the human’s continent. She didn’t have words to explain how relieved she was to see her friend safe and unharmed.

Mina was so happy to find Izuku, it was like the whole world was out of place with him gone. What that little green dragon don’t understand is that he may not be in any party, but he is a fundamental part of all of them. Izuku is the kindest and warmest of them all, he brings their little community together. It breaks their heart to see him so sad because he can’t hunt while he can’t see he is the one who brings harmony to so many headstrong dragons.

But then, after checking on the clear injuries on his wings, as she was talking to Izuku about bringing him back home, Izuku said he wouldn’t come back. Well, too bad little fellow, Mina thought to him, because you are going to. And Izuku stood his ground against Mina, brave and stubborn as she had never seen him before.

Before Mina could understand where that new bullheadedness had come from, two humans show up swinging their weapons against them. Her instincts kicked in instantly, she couldn’t allow her friend to get killed by those pesky little boys! Mina attacked fiercely just to… be stopped by Izuku?

That was so unexpected that Mina instantly froze in place. Izuku fighting her? Little Izuku? Everybody’s sweetheart? Who couldn’t hurt not even the mice who invaded his cave? Fighting Mina? For… two human boys?

And as if things couldn’t get any weirder, Izuku says the boys are his friends! That they are precious to him! 

Izuku tried to quickly explain that he met them several moons ago, that they are friendly and they are helping him, that he got hurt on accident and that the humans are taking care of him, and the village is great and everyone is nice to him, and the food is amazing, did Mina know about cooked food? Because it’s great and she really should eat pies but they are not easy and the whole ‘easy as pie’ expression is really misleading and-

The flood of information that comes from their mental link made Mina dizzy. She couldn’t understand all of it, but she understood that Izuku would not stand idly and let her get rid of the humans; and the humans were actually trying to protect Izuku from her. They looked a little stupid (but to Mina all humans look a little stupid), but Izuku guaranteed they were really nice and not that stupid for somethings.

Most dragons would dismiss Izuku’s claims, overpower the smaller dragon, kill the humans and drag him home. But Mina isn’t like most dragons, she has been following the human's boats for quite some time. And, even though she does think they are a bit slow on the uptake, Mina found out humans aren’t as mean and evil as dragons are taught. 

They cared deeply about one another, they were funny, they told tales about their mates and younglings to their friends. They were basically just like dragons, just without the magic and the weird need to cover their bodies in cloth. 

And Izuku looked so happy among those two boys. The redheaded one is gentle and funny, making Mina feel welcomed from the start; the blond one is feisty and explosive, but so protective of Izuku he could give Ochako a good fight. They seem really nice and Mina had never seen Izuku so confident and lively.

So she just accepted his suggestion. It was a decision that could get her banished from the archipelago if anyone ever found out, but she just couldn’t break Izuku’s heart like that. Now she has to find a way of telling the other dragons that she found Izuku but left him behind.

Alright, Mina. You can do it. None of those other dragons can win against her in a direct fight, so she will be fine. Most likely. Probably. If they don’t realize they can fight together to take her down. Oh fuck. They wouldn’t do that, would they? They are all friends!  They know Mina cares for Izuku as much as anyone else.

The pink dragon gathers her bearings before reaching the beach. As she gets closer to their island, she can see way more dragons than she expected to wait for her. Ochako, Tenya and Shouto were a given, but Tsuyu, Yuga and Hitoshi were also there. 

Well, Tsuyu would be on her side, right? She and the water dragon have always been very close. And Yuga is not aggressive at all, Mina can’t imagine the dragon who is so obsessed with shiny pebbles and shells trying to fight her. Hitoshi, however, was a whole different story; Mina will have to be extra smart to not fall into his traps.

“Now, that is a big crowd waiting for me” Mina thinks as she lands on the beach.

“HAVE YOU FOUND HIM?!” Ochako’s desperate thoughts drown every other greeting.

“Ochako, please lower your tone.” Tenya reasons.

“I’ve found him, he is alive and he is fine”, Mina thinks clearly to all of them.

“Why haven’t you brought him back?” Shouto asks.

“Is he alright? Does he have food? Water? Where is he? Tell me, Mina!” Ochako pleads.

“Is Izuku hurt somehow?” Tsuyu questions quietly, her voice barely reaching Mina’s thoughts.

“He is hurt, but that is not the only reason I haven’t brought him back.” Mina explains.

“Then tell us now where he is so we can go rescue him!” Tenya interrupts her.

“Where is he, Mina?” Ochako stomps her feet on the floor.

“Can we even believe you? You haven’t brought back any proof that you saw him” Hitoshi instigates.

Feeling fed up with their demands, Mina roars loudly using all of her size to get the other dragons to shut up. She doesn’t like to use the fact that she is much bigger and stronger than her friends to make them quiet down and submit, but they are really trying her today. 

“THAT IS ENOUGH! I didn’t bring him back because Izuku didn’t want to come! You all have been driving him crazy! You all knew how sad he was and haven’t done anything to help!”

“But we-” Ochako tries.

“NO! What we think is best for him is not what makes him happy! He went away to try to learn how to control his quirk on his own, and it backfired. His wings are healing, but he is otherwise fine. I just came back to tell you guys not to worry, tomorrow morning I’ll go to him again and I will stay with him until he feels good enough to come home and you guys ARE NOT GOING TO FOLLOW ME. Have I made myself clear?”

She hears grumbles of acceptance at her outburst from everyone except Ochako.

“Ochako?”

“I want him back! Now!” the smaller dragon whines.

“Well, what you want is not in discussion now. I’m doing what Izuku wants for a change.” Mina says harshly to her.

“Please tell him we really miss him and that we are sorry, my darling” Yuga says kindly, his opal hide twinkling in the dusk's light.

“Tell Izu that I miss swimming with him” Tsuyu asks and walks away with Yuga.

Shouto gets close to Mina and whispers to her quietly, “Tell him I’ll apologize properly when he returns”, before leaving.

Tenya is scenting Ochako trying to get the girl to stop crying, Mina looks at them with weight in her heart. She hates watching her friends suffer.

“Ochako…” the girl calls softly.

“I know he has been unhappy, but I just wanted him to be safe! I can’t lose him, Mina”, Ochako whimpers.

“You aren’t going to lose him, he loves you just as much as you love him. When he returns, the two of you will work this out”, Mina soothes her.

“Please do bring him back soon, Mina” Tenya pleads as he takes Ochako away too.

Hitoshi doesn’t send any thought before leaving, but he looks deeply into Mina’s eyes with a calculating expression. She knows he is much harder to throw off for a loop than her other friends, and he has a very close relationship with Izuku. Mina can’t help but feel a little wary as the violet dragon walks away.

…

Next morning, bright and early, Mina talked to a few of her companions in the patrolling party that she would be away for a while then took off flying to the human’s continent. Honestly, Mina was excited. When the fear of Izuku being hurt and the anxiety of talking to the other dragons passed, she was left with the knowledge that she would get to know humans up close.

She has been watching them from afar for so long, it will be nice to actually be able to talk to them directly instead of practicing on her own,

And those human boys seem to be nice. Izuku said they were and the blond might be a little prickly but the redhead was very warm and friendly. The feisty blond appeared to be very attached to Izuku, but Mina guesses that is Izuku’s special power after all - he makes everyone feel close to him instantly.

Mina dives in and crosses a good chunk of the way underwater to not be seen by the boats she usually follows around. She won’t hear their tales today, but with any luck when she returns she will be able to understand their stories like she never could have before. She is anxious to see everything she can learn about humans, Izuku said they are even teaching him how to read!

Mina had never understood the human’s fascination with those little books of theirs until, during a day where the fish weren’t biting and the winds were dead, one of the fishermen took a book out and read it to his peers. It was the most beautiful story about a princess trapped on top of a tower sleeping an enchanted sleep while being guarded by a dragon.

The dragon obeyed an evil witch and killed everyone who dared to get close to the castle. Until one day another princess came and killed the witch, breaking the spell that kept the first princess sleeping. The book didn’t say what happened to the dragon, but Mina likes to think he got away from the evil witch’s binding magic too.

That day, when Mina returned home, she told everything she heard to the older dragons in her party. She wanted to know if there was a way to check on that poor dragon who suffered so much in the witch’s hands. However, Nemuri told her that human books safeguard stories forever and that may have happened centuries ago. Centuries! And Mina had the chance to hear about it! Books are really incredible.

Maybe Mina can get Kirishima to teach her more about books. Would he read a book to her if she asked? He already offered to give her pies, so maybe she can try asking him for a story?

When Mina sees the mountaintop where she left the boys yesterday, the three of them are already there waiting. Izuku and Kirishima wave their hands at her while Bakugou has his arms crossed and a closed off expression. She shifts to her human form as soon as she touches the ground.

"Mina! You came back!" Izuku greets her happily.

"Of course! I said I would!" She nuzzles her friend who wraps his arms around her like she saw humans on the boats do.

"I missed you, gorgeous" the redhead blinks his eye weirdly at her. Maybe he has a speck of dust in it?

"And what now? We have a fucking pink girl to hide now! And my parents are already on my case! No way I can sneak her in my bedroom!" Bakugou yells.

"Calm down, Kacchan. Mina can stay with Kirishima", Izuku says petting the blond boy's hair.

"WHAT?" Kirishima's face goes as red as his hair. Humans have the funniest reactions. "Are you crazy, Izuku? We can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"Because she's a girl!" Kirishima moves his arms wildly in Mina's direction trying to make his point.

"Really? That is the fucking issue? And not the fact that this girl is FUCKING PINK?" Bakugou yells angrily. "But you know what?! I don't care, you were the one insisting for her to return, you deal with the dragon now!"

"Come on, Baku! I can't have a girl in my room! What would I tell my mom?"

"You mean after you explain to her why the girl has horns, black eyes and pink skin?"

"We can just say she has a skin condition, dude."

"The condition being that SHE IS FUCKING PINK!"

Mina gets tired of their pointless bickering and looks at Izuku who just shrugs at her.

"Humans have a very narrow idea of how someone can look like. It's like those birds who only have one color."

Mina rolls her eyes, "alright, but just because the boys' fighting is getting on my nerves."

And, with that, Mina focuses her magic on her skin trying to make it as close to the human's color as she can. It's tricky, the whole human transformation is not very easy if you try to stray away from your brain's determined idea of what you should look like in that form - but she manages to, kind of.

Her skin goes much lighter, it is still a shade of pink, but now it can pass as a (almost) normal human skin. But the horns don't budge. She supposes her brain refuses to accept Mina would be Mina without horns.

She gives a tentative smile to Izuku who just beams back at her. 

"Much easier to blend in! Now we can just…" and he fixes her hair to hide most of her horns. "Kacchan, Kiri, what do you guys think?"

Bakugou huffs, "She is still pink!"

"But in the right light I think we can get away with it." Izuku pouts and crosses his arms, "and if we can't take Mina, I'm going to stay here with her!"

"Yeah, whatever. We can try to sneak her in like that. Let's just say the truth, she came from your village to check on you. And she is staying with Kirishima because there isn't space in my house anymore."

"But, but, bro!" Kirishima pleads looking terrified between Mina and Bakugou.

"No fucking buts, Shitty Hair! This is your dragon now, you take care of her!" The blond boy yells.

"I like his hair" Mina says and Kirishima's face goes even redder.

Izuku grabs her hand and pulls her to walk, "let's go! We need to show the village to Mina! It's going to be so fun!" 

Mina has never seen Izuku smiling so happily and talking so excitedly, so she smiles back at him as they walk down the mountain. The two Viking boys follow them, one looking annoyed and the other, terrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First time writing in Mina's POV, how did I go? :D
> 
> And Baku is whipped, that is my hc xD
> 
> Thank you all for reading and tell me your thoughts in the comments!


	16. How to court a dragon

**How to court a dragon**

As they walk down the mountain, Kirishima is filled with contradicting feelings. On one hand, he will spend more time with Mina! They will get to know each other better, he can show his manliness to her and, maybe, impress the amazing girl.

But on the other hand, what if he makes a fool of himself? More time together just means more chances for Eijirou to screw up! He spent the whole night awake thinking about it and the more he thought, the more he figured he doesn’t stand a chance.

Mina is this super accomplished dragon in her community. Izuku talked for hours about how famous she is and how Mina is the youngest ever to get a job in their most prestige warrior party. And what does Eijirou have to show for himself?

He isn’t even a warrior by their village’s standards. Even worse, to be a warrior he would have to _kill a dragon_ ! Eijirou can’t do that! He doesn’t even believe there was a time in his life he actually _wanted_ to kill a dragon, but now the idea makes him nauseous.

Izuku and Mina are walking excitedly in front of them, the boy talking endlessly about the cool things they will do once they get to the village. It’s interesting to see that they are about the same height, Mina is barely two fingers taller than him, while in their dragon forms the girl is easily three times as big as Izuku.

“The fuck is wrong with you? You look stupider than usual.” Bakugou asks quietly by his side.

“What? No, no! I’m fine, bro!” Eijirou laughs awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“If you really can’t sneak her in, we can find some other way. Hell, he can just tell her to get fucking lost, for all I care.”

“Bro! No! We are not sending Mina away!”

“Then why are you pulling this shitty face?”

“It’s nothing! It’s just… I don’t know… She is so manly and strong… I guess I just realized I don’t have a chance with someone like her.” Eijirou drops his head down after confessing his fear to his best friend.

“The fuck? You really mean this shit? How fucking stupid are you? She is a dragon!”

“I know, I know… I didn’t even consider the differences of courting approaches, I probably weirded her out yesterday and ruined any chance I could have had.”

“Shitty Hair! She. Is. A. Dragon! She isn’t a person, you can’t fucking court her!”

“And what is the difference?”

“What do you mean ‘what is the difference’? I think the difference is pretty fucking obvious! The girl is pink! She has horns! She transforms into a dragon that is almost the size of your house!”

“Bro, that doesn’t matter. The heart wants what the heart wants. I see a beautiful, fun and strong girl who cares about her friends and is excited to learn new things. That is the kind of person I want in my life.” He looks at Bakugou confused. “I thought you understood that since you and Izuku…”

“What? Me and Deku what? Spit it out, dipshit!”

“You both have a very special relationship,” Kirishima says shrugging.

If his bro doesn’t want to accept the fact he loves Izuku yet, Eijirou can’t make him. Bakugou is very stubborn and will lash out if he insists on it. But from the serious deep in thought look in Katsuki’s face, maybe Kirishima managed to plant a seed of the idea inside his bro’s head.

And, anyway, it’s not like Eijirou has an answer to these questions. He is sure Mina is the most amazing girl he has ever met, but he doesn’t think he will ever manage to date her. Kirishima really doesn’t have much to offer a girl who can fly half the ocean in the morning and spit fire and venom out of her mouth. His skill with the ax seems very stupid in front of everything Mina can do.

“I don’t understand what the fuck is going on inside your head since I’m too smart to make sense of your idiocy,” Katsuki grumbles taking Eijirou out of his thoughts. “But that shitty pink girl would be lucky to date you. Dragons suck at social norms, you are gonna have to teach her how to be courted. But you taught Denki how to get honey from the hive without using a rock, so I think you can manage it.”

Eijirou look at Bakugou overwhelmed with emotion, “do you really think that, bro? Because I can’t even use the bow properly yet, and she can fly!”

Katsuki hits him on the back of the head, “Don’t be an idiot! You can’t impress her with battle skills. You gotta be smarter than that to defeat her.”

“Defeat her…?” Kirishima asks confused.

“Yeah, you gotta give your fucking all, Shitty Hair! This ain’t gonna be an easy battle, but I’m not gonna allow the future second best warrior of my village to be bested by a freaking dragon!” Bakugou says passionately. “You gotta destroy her! Buy her honey bread! Get flowers for her! Take her on a stroll under the moonlight! You can’t have any mercy!”

“Yeah!..?” Kirishima agrees a little confused.

Maybe Bakugou has an interesting point of view of how courting someone is like, but he isn’t wrong. Eijirou can’t give up without trying! Sure, Mina can be manly in so many things, but she doesn’t know a lot about human life. Eijirou can show her all the nice things humans have to offer.

…

As soon as they get back to the village, their empty bellies make themselves known.

“We can go to the market to hunt for food!” Izuku says excitedly.

“No, we go to the market to **buy** food, idiot. I already explained to you how money works, don’t make me smack you!” Katsuki barks at him and Izuku giggles completely unfazed by the blond’s threats.

“It’s the funniest thing, Mina! You have to give shiny flat pebbles to take things, and then the people in the market use the pebbles to take things from other people.” Izuku explains to the girl who looks quite confused.

“Why don’t they just exchange things in the first place? What is so special about these pebbles?”

Izuku shrugs, “humans have the weirdest ideas.”

“I’m not fucking explaining how monetary flux works to you two knuckleheads! Just don’t take things from the stalls without permission!” Katsuki says pulling Izuku by the hand and turning to Kirishima. “I’m gonna watch this one, you keep the pink menace in line!”

And with that warning, Bakugou walks away dragging the other boy. Eijirou stays frozen in slight panic mode. He needs to feed Mina! It’s his chance to impress her! What is he going to do? Oh my god, why did Bakubro abandon him like that?! What do dragons even like to eat?!

Why didn’t Eijirou pay attention to what Izuku eats? He has been hanging out with the other boy for quite a while, he should know that by now! Think, Eijirou, think! Oh yeah! Fruit! Izuku always went for the apples first when they shared meals on the top of the mountain!

He looks over to Mina and finds the girl standing quietly with her hands behind her back and tilting her head towards him. She is so freaking cute! Kirishima can’t help but hide his face with his hands as the blush creeps onto his cheeks. He can’t do it! He can’t! She is too cute!

“Kiri? Are you alright?” She asks softly and Eijirou thinks he is going to die. Kiri?! Kiri?!

“Kiri?” He asks out loud without noticing it.

“Oh, yeah! Izuku says it’s normal for humans to give special nicknames to friends. That is why Bakugou calls him Deku. And your name is pretty big, it doesn’t seem to fit you since you are so tiny and cute. So I thought Kiri would work better!” She explains smiling.

Eijirou blushes even harder and hides his face away. Inside his head, thoughts gave up and all that is left is _‘AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!! CUTE!!!!!! GAAAAAHHHH!!! I’M DEAD!!!_ ’

“Is that alright?” Mina asks unsure probably mistaken Eijirou’s silence as if he doesn’t approve of the nickname.

“It’s fine! Fine!” He laughs awkwardly. “You just caught me by surprise! Kiri is fine. Great actually! Just… dandy!”

Mina still looks at him confused, Eijirou decides he needs to change the subject.

“So, let’s get some food!” He motions her to walk with him. “This is the market, it’s where we trade foods, clothes, weapons… Anything, really.”

“Don’t you guys hunt?”

“Some of us do, but that is not where most of our food comes from. There are farmers around the village who grow the fruit and vegetables. And most of the meat we eat are from the sheep herds and the fish the boats bring every day.”

“Oh yeah! I love sheep! They reproduce like bunnies in the continent, right? Good hunting grounds!”

“Ahn… yeah, they do but only because we make them. The farmers grow the sheep just like the veggies. And then they sell the meat here. So we can’t really hunt them because they are owned by the farmers.”

Mina halts on the spot and looks at Kirishima completely bewildered for a while, then she cracks up and starts laughing wildly. She bends down over her belly from her laughs and Kirishima can’t help but chuckle too, even though he doesn’t know what is so funny.

“They **_grow_ ** sheep?! Like cabbages?! What do they do? Stick their hooves on the ground? And think they **_own_ ** the sheep?!” Mina says between laughs.

“Ahn… no? They just… look at the sheep? Until they are nice and fat? Then they kill them?” Damn, it’s hard to explain how sheep herding works!

Mina’s laughter subsides but she still chuckles lightly.

“So the farmers just watch the sheep take care of themselves until they are good enough to hunt and, somehow, the farmers convinced every other human they are not allowed to do the same? Because they ‘own’ the sheep?”

Now, putting like that is does sound stupid.

“I guess?” Kirishima says uncertain.

“Humans are the funniest little things, I tell you”, she is still chuckling and shaking her head when they resume walking through the marketing. “Owning sheep…”

They end up buying pies filled with sheep meat and goat cheese. It was quite a splurge for Eijirou’s allowance, but he hopes Mina is going to like it. Mina looks curious around the place, her eyes lingering in every one of the stands. After getting the pies, Kirishima decides to eat them in his favorite spot in town but on the way there Mina stops looking amazed at one of the stalls -  the book store one.

“Mina? Everything alright?”

“I didn’t know there were so many of them.”

“So many what?” Eijirou scrunches his eyebrows confused. “Books?”

“Have you read them all?”

“Ahn… no? I’ve got some back home I’ve read but most of the ones here I’ve never seen before.”

Mina nobs absentmindedly, Eijirou has half the mind to get closer to the stall with her and let the girl touch and explore the books. However, the shopkeeper is looking at them with a wary expression and Kirishima decides it’s time for them to go. He takes Mina by the hand and pulls her.

“I can show you the ones in my house later. Let’s go eat!” He smiles at her and the girl smiles back.

They sit down to eat on the big fountain that sits near the market. The fountain is very beautiful, a big structure with clear water and several flowers planted around it. Many couples sit in this place at dusk for their little dates, Eijirou even watched a couple of kisses being traded there.

“So, what do you think?” He asks eagerly just as Mina gives her first bite into the pie.

The girl’s eyes grow huge as she tastes the pie. She looks amazed between the pastry in her hands and Eijirou and nods her head profusely. “So, is it good?”

When she finishes swallowing, she says gesticulating wildly “It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever eaten! What is this? How is it made? I’ve never eaten anything so crumbly and-and-and incredible!”

Eijirou chuckles at the girl's excitement. “I don’t know the recipe… Honestly, I’m not that good in the kitchen. But I can ask my mom, she can make these.”

“These are pies, right?” She asks and Eijirou nods. “Izuku told me they are not easy to make.”

“I think every mom knows how to make… But I get your point, moms can make some pretty difficult things.” Mina nods in understanding. “I’m sure my mom will explain if we ask her, though.”

“If we go to your nest to ask your mom about pies…. Will you show me your books?” Mina asks shyly looking down at her lap.

“Sure! I can give you the books if you want!”

Mina laughs softly, “that wouldn’t do any good. I can’t read them.”

“Oh. So I can read them for you!” Eijirou offers and Mina’s head shoots right up to face him.

“Really?” The girl asks with shiny eyes leaning towards Kirishima, he gets instantly embarrassed and blushes.

“Y-yeah! I-I can read to you all the books you want.”

“That would be amazing, Kiri!” She smiles brightly at him before going back to her pie. “I only had one book ever read to me. Well, it wasn’t really read **_to me_ **. A fisherman read to the others and I happened to hear it. It told the story about a girl trapped in a tower by an evil witch!”

“Oh, yeah… I think I know that one.” Why are the fishermen reading fairy tales during work hours? “Do you like stories like that? Because I know a bunch, I don’t even need books.”

Mina looked at him with such reverence, Eijirou actually felt kind of bad of gloating about knowing children stories. But, hey, all is fair in love and war, right? A man gotta work with what he has.

“Yes, please, Kiri! Please! I want to hear stories!” She pleaded cutely.

“Alright… Let me think…” Eijirou touches his cheek with his index finger in a dramatic manner. “I know! I’m going to tell you the story of the girl with the glass slipper!”

…

They spent hours talking and laughing by the fountain. Eijirou impressed Mina with his vast knowledge of children’s tales and the girl seemed to be enjoying herself. They got so caught up in their own little bubble, they didn’t even notice the ruckus coming their way until a threatening shadow covered the sun.

“There you fucking are! I’ve been looking for you forever, Shitty Hair!” Katsuki screams at them making Mina and Kirishima jump in their seats.

“Bro! We were just having lunch.” Eijirou explains and Mina nods in agreement.

“Lunch? Lunch was over three fucking hours ago! You can’t disappear with a dr-... with a village guest.” Katsuki yells then completes more quietly. “Besides, Dunce Face and Soy Sauce are asking around for us. We already skipped the morning training, if we don’t show up for the afternoon they are going to suspect something is wrong.”

“Hey, Mina! What did you think of the food?” Izuku smiles and waves at the girl.

“Hey, Izuku! I love it! We had pie!”

“Pie is great! Later you need to try the honey bread!”

“Let’s fucking go before the idiots find us.” Katsuki shakes his head and walks away towards the training grounds.

Izuku and Mina talk happily about how their lunches had been as they walked. Eijirou tries getting close to them to hear what Mina had to say about their little lunch date (Eijirou can’t even think about that without blushing!), but Bakugou catches him by the collar and brings him back to his side.

“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” Katsuki grunts.

“Ahn… talking to them?”

“We have more important shit to discuss than that, idiot!”

“Oh”, Bakugou is such a good bro! He wants to know how Eijirou’s date went! “It was great, bro! We talked a lot, she liked the pies. At one point, I even held her hand! Granted, it was just to take her to the right place, but she didn’t slap my hand away and-”

“I don’t fucking care about that, dipshit!” Katsuki interrupts him with a slap behind his head. “We need to talk about what we are going to say to Dunce Face and Soy Sauce! Granted they are stupid, but they will notice a whole girl arriving to train with us!”

Oh, Bakugou is right. They have never brought a girl to the training grounds before. Sure, Kaminari has been in love with Jirou forever and Sero has a thing for a girl from another village; but Mina is so beautiful they may forget about their past loves once they see her!

“You are right! We need to hide her. We can’t let them see Mina, or else there will be too much competition.”

“Competition?”

“I know you believe in me, bro. But Kaminari and Sero are nice guys too, they will be competition if they decide to court Mina too.”

Bakugou hits him again behind the head, "FOR FUCKS SAKE! HOW CAN YOU BE SO DENSE?”

Katsuki might have continued ranting, but he didn’t have the chance since the noise of greetings called their attention. Looking towards the training grounds, they see Izuku and Mina talking with Sero and Kaminari. Well, so much for keeping them away.

“For crying out loud…” Bakugrou grumbles marching towards the dragons and their friends, Kirishima runs right after him.

“That is why the two of you were no shows for training! You were having fun with Mina and Izuku!” Sero accuses them when Bakugou and Kirishima get close enough.

“Not our fucking fault, she arrived this morning and we had to welcome her.” Katsuki grunts.

“Yeah, she came to help Izuku and us train for the sheep herdin-” Eijirou doesn’t manage to finish his sentence, because Bakugou slaps a hand in his face.

“It’s not fair!” Kaminari pouts. “Why do I have to train while you two go on dat-” Bakugou kicks his shin before he can finish that phrase.

“THAT IS FUCKING ENOUGH! If you guys want to train, we are going to train. Everybody to the field right now!” Katsuki yells at them and everyone scrambles towards the field with the dummies, including Izuku and Mina, but Bakugou grabs them by their collars. “Not you two! Damn idiots! Go sit down there and don’t get in our way!”

Finally when Mina and Izuku are properly sitting down in the outskirts of the field and all the young Vikings have their weapons, they are ready to start training. But that is not really what Kaminari and Sero want to do.

“We trained the whole morning! Let’s talk about the mysterious girl who came from Izuku’s village!” Denki argues.

“You could train the whole fucking month and it would still not be enough, Dunce Face.”

“She seems nice, is she Izuku’s girlfriend?” Sero asks thoughtfully and Kirishima’s and Bakugou’s reaction is instantaneous:

“WHAT?”

“NO!”

“Why the fuck would you say that, Soy Sauce? As if Deku would have a girlfriend!” Bakugou barks swinging his sword against Sero who hides behind Kaminari.

“Oh my god, you are right… Mina may already have a boyfriend… How didn’t I think of that before? I’m so stupid!” Eijirou realizes that he hasn’t even thought about that possibility before.

He sits down in the middle of the field completely dejected. Here he was thinking he could impress Mina by telling her the Snow White story, but maybe she already has her Prince Charming. It must be a big dragon, with giant wings, who can eat a whole sheep in one bite.

“See what you did? Now he is depressed!” Bakugou screams at Sero pointing at Kirishima.

“Dude, are you courting her?” Kaminari sits by Eijirou’s side looking worried.

“I… I was trying? But Sero is right, I didn’t even think she could have a boyfriend already.” Kirishima's eyes fill with tears.

Hanta pats him on the back, “I’m sure she doesn’t! I mean, why would her boyfriend let her come alone to see Izuku if she had one?”

“Exactly!” Kaminari agrees and nudges him in the ribs. “You dirty dog! You gonna get yourself a girlfriend! The first one between us to win one! She is super cute, no wonder you are all over her”

“The fuck?! Shitty Hair isn’t winning! And what do you mean cute?! The girl is fucking pink!” Bakugou screams at them completely dumbfounded.

“Man, that is rude. She probably has a skin condition.” Sero chastises him and, apparently, Katsuki’s brain just gives up. He looks at the three of them sitting on the floor with the most incredulous expression, then grabs his sword and goes to hit some dummies.

 

\--------------------

 

 

 

The amazing Ghosty/Oven26 did these beautiful arts of Izuku and Mina!!!!

They are sooo perfect and I love them SO MUCH!!! 

and yes! The artist did Izuku glittery!!!! ♥♥♥♥♥♥

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mina and Kiri as officially the cutest couple ever, don't @ me.
> 
> Thank you so much again Ghosty for the art! You have no idea how it makes me happy to see!
> 
> I hope you all liked this chapter :D


	17. How to trust a human

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to [Mr. Fluffybuns](https://twitter.com/KiingFluffybuns?s=09) because she is an angel.  
> Check out the AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL AND FUN art she did for this fic in her twitter [here](https://twitter.com/KiingFluffybuns/status/1143651505012191232?s=19),[here](https://twitter.com/KiingFluffybuns/status/1143655737907961856?s=19) and [here](https://twitter.com/KiingFluffybuns/status/1143661465469181953?s=19)

**How to trust a human**

“They are funny.” Mina says sitting on a log by Izuku's side as they both watch the four young Vikings fight with each other instead of with the training dummies.

“Yeah, they are.” Izuku agrees with a soft smile on his face. 

“And really not as bad as the rumors say.”

Izuku looks at his friend and nods. “I told you, they are kind and caring.”

“You told me, and I knew they weren’t the monsters we’ve heard about. But they… I guess they are more than what I thought.” Mina says thoughtful. “They are really special to you, and you to them.”

Izuku smiles and nudges her with his shoulder. “Don’t say that as if you weren’t part of this already. I can tell you are special to Kirishima even though you know each other for so little time.”

“He is very nice.” Mina says with a sweet smile. “He spent hours telling me stories and even promised to read more stories just so he can tell them to me.”

“I think he is courting you.” Izuku says matter-of-factly and Mina looks at him as if he grew another head.

“What? Did you knock your head when you broke your wings?” The girl asks in disbelief.

“Actually, I did.  But I’m not crazy, I’ve been here for a while now and I’ve been friends with Kacchan for quite some time. I understand a thing or two about human social norms. The stories, the special lunch… he is courting you in his weird human way.”

“Oh.” Mina turns back to look at the bright-haired boy who is running away from the enraged blond. “And did you figure that out from first-hand experience with the feisty one?”

Izuku chuckles, “no. It’s quite different. Kirishima uses his emotions from the front of his mind, he doesn’t hide a single thought. Kacchan… Kacchan hides his thoughts even from himself.”

Mina raises an eyebrow to him warily, “if he hurts you, I’ll level this whole village with fire and acid.”

Izuku laughs but chastises her, “Mina! Don’t! There are good people here besides the ones you already met. And Kacchan won’t hurt me, I know he won’t. He may not understand his feelings yet, but I’m smarter.”

Mina giggles and wraps her arms around Izuku in a side hug. “I missed seeing you so happy... They all do back home, you know.”

“I… I miss them too.” Izuku says with a small voice.

“But?” Mina looks at him but Izuku shifts his glance downwards. “But you don’t want to go back.” She completes for him.

“I like being here. There is so much to learn, so many things to do and see. Every day is a new adventure with Kacchan by my side.” 

Izuku has a sad look on his face after being forced to face some facts he has been purposefully ignoring for some time. Mina hugs him tightly against her chest.

“We will deal with it when we have too. I’ll fight all the Elders if I have to, just to protect you, my little munchkin. For now, enjoy your little feisty human and I’ll find out more about this whole courting thing with the cute one.”

Izuku laughs and hugs Mina back rocking her back and forth. 

“Hey! Kacchan is the cute one!”

“Na-ah! Your boy glares and snarls, mine just smiles and says I’m pretty. Much cuter!”

“Well, I think Kacchan is the cutest.” Izuku pouts.

“You never had very good taste.” Mina ponders thoughtfully.

“Hey!” Izuku tackles her and they stumble on the floor playing and laughing. “In this form, we are almost the same size!”

“I’m still stronger!” Mina says flipping them and pressing Izuku on the floor.

Izuku tickles the girl and Mina folds over laughing since she has never been ticked before. She laughs so hard that it causes hiccups for her, and that makes them laugh even harder.

“HEY! GET OFF HIM!” Kacchan shows up out of nowhere and hoists Mina by the collar of her shirt to get her away from Izuku.

Mina gets startled and hiccups harder spitting a small ball of acid on the log they were just sitting. It eats through the log instantly. They all jump up scared and Kirishima, Sero and Kaminari run towards them.q

“Are you guys alright?” Kirishima yells worriedly as he gets closer.

Izuku freaks out thinking they might see the destroyed log and grabs Mina by the hand to run towards the other Vikings.

“Kirishima! Mina is feeling a little ill, maybe you should take her back to lie down a little?” 

Kirishima looks even more worried, “Of course! Do you need me to carry you?” He asks the girl already kneeling down and showing his back to her. “Hop on! I’ll take you home!”

Mina looks confused between Izuku and Kirishima, but Izuku pushes her towards the kneeled boy. 

“Go on, Mina! You had a very long trip to get here, you should go rest now!” 

“Yeah, just go with Shitty Hair. We are done for the day.” Kacchan grunts beside him. “And you two can go too. It’s not like any more training will help your useless asses.” He says to Sero and Kaminari.

Soon enough everybody is leaving the training grounds under Katsuki’s murderous threats. Only Izuku and Kacchan stay behind to check on the log.

“The fuck happened here?” Katsuki asks confused looking at the melted wood.

“You spooked Mina when she had the hiccups. I think that triggered a self-defense mechanism and her quirk acted up without she meaning to.” Izuku says thoughtfully. 

It’s the only thing that makes sense. Mina has complete control of her quirk in her dragon form, but her human form is different. 

“I didn’t know you guys could use your special powers as humans.”

Izuku thinks for a while before answering. “I don’t think that even dragons knew that. I mean, there is no good reason why we wouldn’t be able to since we are still the same even if we look different after shifting. But dragons don’t usually go around in this form for as long as me and Mina have been doing, so I don’t think dragons have even tried using their powers like that.”

Katsuki nods thoughtfully before saying “Let’s roll the rest of this trunk to the woods so no one sees it, then we can go home.”

…

Dinner with the Bakugous is always an interesting affair. Izuku adores Aunty Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru. They are very nice and always have hundreds of things to talk about. It’s also fun to see Kacchan get jealous.

It took awhile for Izuku to understand Kacchan’s jealousy. For some time, he thought Kacchan didn’t like not being everyone's center of attention. But after watching the boy in so many situations, things got pretty clear: Kacchan doesn’t like when he isn’t the center of Izuku’s attention.

The dragon doesn’t think Kacchan noticed that yet. His friend is very good at ignoring things that are right in front of his nose to try to preserve his pride. So Izuku decided to ignore it too. If Kacchan isn’t going to admit to it, Izuku won’t care about it either (but that doesn’t stop the dragon from having fun when he sees it happening).

As soon as dinner is over, Kacchan drags Izuku back to his room grumbling about his parents as always. He really can’t believe Mina doesn’t see how cute Kacchan is, everything he does is adorable. 

“Finally! I thought the hag would never stop talking!” Katsuki grunts slamming the door closed.

“I like talking to Aunty, there was no need to hurry.”

“You are spoiling her too much! If you keep it up, she will never leave us alone!” The Viking barks hoping in one feet as he takes his boots off and Izuku chuckles at his antics. “Besides, I need to talk to you in private. I had an idea about your quirk that we could test.”

That makes Izuku perk up, they haven’t discussed his quirk since he got hurt.

“I was thinking and I believe dragon’s powers get weaker in their human form.” Katsuki says sitting down on his bed and patting the spot by his side for Izuku to sit too. “You said before that Mina’s acid could destroy whole trees, but she barely melted a log today.”

Izuku frowns, “that could be just because it was an involuntary thing, she wasn’t trying to melt it.”

“Maybe. Or maybe dragons already use magic to keep their human form, leaving less magic for their quirks.”

“That… sounds possible. But how does that relate to my quirk?”

“It could be safer to test your quirk in your human form. I also thought about how you could control it. I think you need to feel the power run through your whole body and not only where you want it to work. That way maybe you could understand the power better.”

“I don’t know, Kacchan… That seems dangerous. If my quirk hurts me when it’s only in one limb, how much damage could it make on my whole body?” Izuku asks a little uncertain.

“But that is how strength works, Deku! You have to use your whole body when fighting. Every movement is more complicated if you try keeping everything else still.” Katsuki explains but Izuku is still feeling skeptic. “Come here, I’m going to show you.”

The boy grabs Izuku by the hand and makes them stand facing each other. 

“Alright, punch me” Kacchan raises an open palm for Izuku to hit.

The dragon’s eye dart from Katsuki’s hand to his face several times. He isn’t comfortable with hurting Kacchan.

“Come on! Do it! You can’t hurt me even if you try, shitty lizard.” Izuku decided to humor the boy and punches his palm lightly. “Again! Stronger! I know you have more in you!”

The second punch hits much harder, forcing Katsuki to take a step back.

“That is it! Now try punching me again without moving anything but your arm.”

Izuku pulls his arm up again and-

“No. Just your arm, you are moving your chest and back.”

Oh, Kacchan is right. Izuku straightens his back and tries raising his arm again.

“You moved your shoulder and changed the weight on your legs.”

This is much harder than he thought. To actually manage to punch Kacchan without moving anything but his arm, Izuku has to make the movement very slowly and deliberated. And in the end, the punch comes out much weaker than before.

“Try again, this time faster and stronger.”

Izuku does, but the movement is unnatural and when his hand hits Kacchan’s palm it hurts his whole arm. Izuku’s eyes go huge at the realization.

“Kacchan! You are a genius! Of course I hurt myself when my power is only in my arm! My quirk wasn’t strengthening the rest of my body and the power imbalance puts too much strain on the limb! You are absolutely right!” Izuku says excitedly. This is the biggest breakthrough he ever had with his quirk.

“Of course I’m right. I’m always fucking right, shitty Deku, and you will do well in remembering that!” The boy answers proudly. “Now let’s try turning your quirk on through your whole body.”

Izuku takes a small step back after hearing that. Sure, the theory sounded solid but the risks were too great. They could destroy Kacchan’s house, reveal the hidden powers to every human and, even worse, he could hurt Kacchan. The space is too small, they have to try that somewhere else, somewhere safer.

But Kacchan disagrees. The Viking takes Izuku’s hands on his own forcing the boy to look at him. Izuku blushes as his eyes go down at their joined hands and their intimate position.

“You can do it, you don’t have to worry.” Katsuki whispers looking deep into his eyes. “Don’t you trust me?”

“I trust you, it’s just… It’s too dangerous.” Izuku pleads.

“It isn’t. Nothing about you is dangerous.” Kacchan caresses Izuku’s hand with his thumb. “Just a little misunderstood. But I’m gonna help you understand, all you have to do is trust me.”

It’s hard to say no to Katsuki when he is being so unfairly charming.

“Al-alright. What do I have to do?”

“Turn on your power and try to imagine it is flowing through your whole body.”

Izuku tries to pull his hands back to himself, but Katsuki holds them in place. The determined look on those red eyes makes it clear he won’t accept any other way. Izuku takes a deep breath resigned and closes his eyes. He doesn’t even know if he can turn on his power in human form, but he needs to try for Kacchan.

Izuku reaches deep inside him for the small ball of energy that is his quirk. Usually, he just takes the ball to the part of his body he wants to use. This time, though, he imagines the ball growing larger and larger until it surrounds his whole body.

“Open your eyes, Deku.” Katsuki whispers.

Izuku opens them slowly, too scared of what he may see. But what he meets is Katsuki’s face forming a big smile.

“Look!” Kacchan says indicating with his head for Izuku to look at his own arms. 

And there it is. Green lightning running over both of his arms and chest, his whole body is lit up with his One for All (as Kacchan called it once). The lightning travels bright and fast through Izuku, pent up energy ready to be released.

“Now, let’s try toning it down a little. You are like a bonfire that could light up the whole village, let’s bring it down to a candle.”

“How can I do that?” Izuku asks confused but not afraid anymore. 

Katsuki was right in everything he said, Izuku won’t doubt him ever again.

“Just relax. Breath deeply with me.” Kacchan whispers and shows to Izuku when to breath in and out very slowly. “Yeah, keep doing that. And now imagine the power going down, getting smaller.”

Izuku tries to picture the ball of fast energy becoming one very dense center, but keeping its big size to keep flowing through his whole body. The center in his belly still is strong and bright, but the extremities in his limbs become a faint glow. 

Sure enough, the flashes of lightning in his arms seem to become slower and more sparse.

“Perfect. You are doing great, Deku.” Katsuki praises him with a small smile. “Let’s try giving a tiny step now, ok?”

“Oh- O-ok… We can try.” Izuku’s heartbeat picks up with the idea of moving and the lightning amps up again.

“Breathe and relax. You got this, nerd, and I’ll be with you the whole time. You don’t have to worry.”

Of course he doesn’t have to worry. Kacchan is here and he believes that Izuku can do it.

“Great, that is it. Now, just one step ok? Follow my lead.” Katsuki makes one of his feet touch Izuku’s. “You are taking one step forward, and I’m gonna go one back. You got it?”

“Ye-yeah, I got it.”

“On three: one… two…” Katsuki raises his feet just half an inch over the floor and Izuku follows with his to not break the light contact between their toes. “...three.”

And they take one small step perfectly. 

No destruction, no injury, no explosion of power.

“KACCHAN! I DID IT!” Izuku exclaims happy.

“Yeah, you did, silly dragon.” Kacchan says with a proud smile on his face. “Let’s try another one, follow my lead again.”

They take three more steps, happiness growing in every one of them. The excitement is so much that the lightning goes back to its more energized state and Katsuki decides they have done enough progress for one night.

“I think we can call it a night.” He says and at that moment Izuku pushes his power back to its original ball and jumps to hug Katsuki.

However, he does both things too fast and one last sliver of power jumps from his finger straight up. The airwave makes a hole the size of a watermelon on the thatched roof.

Katsuki and Izuku freeze in their hug looking up to the night sky now appearing in the middle of the bedroom.

“Oops?” Izuku says embarrassed.

“Well, I’ve always wanted a skylight anyway. It’s gonna bring a nice breeze in the summer.” Katsuki says with half a smirk on his face. 

Izuku hugs Kacchan ever tighter hiding his face on the crook of his neck. The Viking laughs at his antics and hugs him back. Izuku doesn’t think he has ever been this happy before.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So finally the romance is starting to appear between those two ❤ and Izuku is getting a handle of his quirk!
> 
> Thank you sooooo much for everyone who reads and comments on this fic! I can't believe how close we are to 1k kudos. Like, really, guys?! For the fic known for its sheep jokes?! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?! 
> 
> And thanks again for Mr. Fluffybuns and every one who creates art and even translates this! You are the best and I'm unworthy of your grace!


	18. How to play around with your friends

**How to play around with your friends**

Shitty fucking Deku! That was the first and last time Katsuki ever does something nice for that brainless lizard! Last night they finally had a great breakthrough with Deku’s magic power, and how does the asshole repay him? He wakes up jumping and runs away before Katsuki had time to put on his boots!

The dragon woke up before Katsuki, shifted into his human form and shook Bakugou awake talking excitedly about ‘having to show Mina! Come on, Kacchan! They are healed! We need to try again! Mina won’t believe it! Wake up, Kacchan! Let’s go!’.

When Katsuki finally managed to open his eyes, Izuku was already darting downstairs. The Viking jumped out of the bed, took his boots and tried shoving his feet in them while walking/jumping. He almost fell down the stairs, and his mother gave him a funny look over his stumble.

Now he is running through the village trying to find out where Izuku went. Shitty fucking lizard! Katsuki ought to skin him and make some bags out of his hide! Maybe that will teach the fucker to not run away from Katsuki.

He said some shit about telling the Pink Menace about whatever, so Katsuki makes a beeline to Kirishima’s house. He runs as fast as he can, but still can’t see Izuku. When did the little fucker get so fast?

“BRO! THIS WAY!” Kirishima yells and Katsuki see his redhead friend waving at him on the outskirts of the village.

“WHERE IS DEKU?” He yells running towards the other Viking.

“He showed up in my house this morning, said something about showing his quirk to Mina and they just ran away! I think they are going to the top of the mountain!” Kirishima says pointing to the beginning of the woods next to the village, probably the path the two dragons took to go up the mountain.

“Let’s fucking go, then!”

When he sees the two idiot dragons he will pull out Deku’s teeth and Pinky’s horns to show them a lesson! Assholes! Who do they think they are to leave Bakugou Katsuki behind? When Katsuki gets them he is going to-

“AHH!” Kirishima (and  **only** Kirishima, Katsuki will fight about this his whole life) screams in fear when the two dragons jump down from the treetops right on top of them.

“YOU FUCKER! I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!” Katsuki yells. 

He is laying on the ground with Izuku’s huge dragon form on top of him. And the asshole lizard still has the gals to lick his face! That is fucking it! This idiot is becoming a handbag before the end of the day!

“GET OFF ME! YOU IDIOT! SHITTY LIZARD! I’M GONNA USE YOU AS SHARK BAIT! I’M GONNA SKIN YOU AND MOUNT YOUR HEAD OVER MY BED! I’M GONNA-”

But no matter the threat, Deku is still looking at him with shiny eyes and an expression of happiness on his face. Then the dragon gets off him, and start stretching his wings. Oh, he is showing Katsuki that his wings are fully healed.

“What? You are healed? And why the fuck do I care? Are you going to fly away with the shitty Pink Problem now?” Katsuki asks grumpy.

Not that he thinks that is what Izuku will do. He knows the dragon is too emotional to just leave without saying proper goodbyes. But it’s hard to think about anything else when Deku’s broken wings were the sole reason he was staying in the village after all.

But Deku knocks his head on Bakugou’s chest with an annoyed look on his face. The Viking can even hear Izuku’s voice on his head ‘don’t be silly, Kacchan! I’m not going away like that!’. Then the dragon positions his body by Katsuki’s side and gives him a coy look.

“Oh, you want me to ride you?” Izuku nods. “Well, I suppose we can go up the mountain quicker this way… Hey, Shitty Hair, I’m going to mount Deku!” 

Katsuki looks over to where Kirishima and Mina should be just to see the giant pink dragon pulling Eijirou by his shirt with her mouth. She looks like she is trying to make the boy go up in her back, but the Viking is resisting.

“Wait! Wait! Mina! I don’t-! I mean, I like you very much but I don’t think our relationship got to that point yet and maybe we should wait and- ahhh!” 

Mina finally manages to put Kirishima on her back and the dragon looks awfully pleased with herself. Kirishima looks in completely panic hanging on Mina’s neck for dear life. 

Katsuki rolls his eyes and climbs on top of Izuku. Apparently the shitty dragons are running the show today and there is nothing they can do except go along with it. 

As soon as both Vikings are safely on top of them, the dragons take off running to the mountaintop. Luckily they remembered it’s too dangerous to fly so close to the village so they run between the trees. Katsuki and Izuku usually fly together, they haven’t really run on the ground. It’s very interesting, a little shakier than a horse and definitely faster.

It doesn’t take long for Mina and Kirishima to take the lead on their impromptu race. The pink dragon is much bigger and her steps are over twice the length of Deku’s. His little dragon is doing his best to keep up, but he isn’t actually managing it.

Katsuki can feel Izuku getting annoyed with that. Underneath the sweet and cute personality, Deku can be quite competitive. So it shouldn’t have been such a big surprise when Katsuki feels some kind of sparkles tingling on his skin and sees green lightning running over Izuku’s whole body.

But it is a surprise and the only thing Katsuki can think is ‘Oh, shit’ before their speed increases tenfold. 

He holds onto Izuku’s neck feeling his arms work with all the strength he has to stop him from falling. The wind goes through them almost as if they are running through a tornado.

“THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, DEKU?” He screams but the wind's sound is so loud he doesn’t think the dragon heard him at all.

Katsuki wants to be angry because Izuku is using his power in such a reckless way after they barely tried to take a couple of steps last night. He wants to be furious and berate the dragon for allowing his competitiveness get the best of him. Bakugou really really wants to be mad and make Deku understand that what he is doing is bad.

But he can’t.

He can’t fight the wild smile that comes to his face. This is fun, so incredibly fun! Almost better than flying. It’s just as thrilling and even faster than they go when they are airborne. And he also can’t help but feel proud that Izuku is being brave enough to use his powers. Katsuki is the one who helped him overcome the mental block with his magic, and now Izuku is (literally) running with it. 

And they are winning over Kirishima and Mina.

The climb up the mountain usually takes over an hour, but they do it in less than twenty minutes. Izuku manages to halt the run when they arrive at the top without a single hitch. He is already using his power as something natural.

When Katsuki dismounts from Izuku and the dragon shifts back into his human form, both boys have mirroring huge smiles on their faces. Izuku tackles him on a hug before the Viking manages to say anything.

“Kacchan! I did it! I used One for All!”

Katsuki hugs him but very tightly, “you did, you crazy fucker. Almost gave me a fucking heart attack.”

Izuku giggles in the hug, completely unashamed of scaring Katsuki. Shitty fucker, he is lucky Katsuki won’t actually make him into some belts because he is really deserving it!

Kirishima and Mina arrive there almost over ten minutes later. Clearly even Mina’s size isn’t enough to keep up with  **_his_ ** dragon’s power.

“Wow! Izuku! That was some crazy speed there!” Kirishima says impressed dismounting Mina.

“IZUKU!” The girl screams as soon as she shifts. “I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! YOU REALLY DID IT! YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR QUIRK!”

She jumps over to hug Izuku knocking Katsuki back. He snarls at her to express his discontent but allows Izuku to be pampered by his friend a little. Bakugou knows how important having control of his quirk is for Izuku and his relationship with other dragons. This won’t stop him from being a little petty, though.

“Of course,  **I** helped him control it since you dragons know shit about training.” He says proudly.

“Yeah, Kacchan is the best!” Izuku smiles at him making Katsuki blush. “He is great at everything and he taught me how to control my quirk!”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. What I do need to know is why the fuck did we run up this shitty mountain so early?” Katsuki grunts a little embarrassed with Deku’s praises.

“My wings are healed! And I need to test my quirk some more! So I figured we could all fly together and play around with my quirk! Besides, Kirishima still hasn’t flown with Mina.” Deku explains excitedly.

“Oh. Flying.” Kirishima says with a terrified look on his face.

Last time Kirishima flew with Izuku, he spent half an hour crying and hugging the floor. Katsuki can’t help but smirk imagining how lover-boy will explain to his girl he is afraid of flying.

***

It only took one of Mina’s smiles to get Kirishima to agree to fly. Really, it’s embarrassing to see how whipped that fucker is. Katsuki would never be like that. He agreed to allow Izuku to try using his powers in-flight (after a small freak out) because it does make sense for his dragon to be able to control his magic in every situation. Izuku’s puppy-dog eyes had nothing to do with Katsuki’s decision.

But now they are here, flying over the waves in the most unbelievable speed. Izuku’s wings create waves themselves with how powerful they are. Katsuki feels like they could cross the whole world before dinner if they were not careful.

From time to time, they had to go back to find Kirishima and Mina who were flying in much tamer speeds. Actually, Katsuki thinks Mina is going slower than her usual to not freak out Shitty Hair. 

God only knows how, but Kirishima’s courting seems to be working on the pink girl. Katsuki doesn’t know what trips him off the most: that his friend fell in love at first sight with a dragon, or that the dragon is starting to reciprocate his feelings. Both concepts sound absolutely wild to him.

And Shitty Hair had the gals to compare his weird obsession with the Pink Menace with Katsuki’s relationship with Deku. What complete bullshit! They are nothing alike whatsoever!

Kirishima has a crush on a girl, that is stupid but normal. What Katsuki and Deku have is completely unique. They understand one another in a whole different level. And they complete each other. 

Katsuki didn’t even know he wasn’t complete until he met Deku. 

Before, when he and Deku just saw each other to talk and play, he knew Deku was a special friend of his. But now, after living together, he understands that Deku is more than that to him. Deku makes his days happier, makes his relationships with other people easier, makes knowledge more meaningful. Katsuki doesn’t want to live without the little dragon ever again because Deku is his partner.

So no, Shitty Hair, you can’t compare your shitty ‘days-old’ crush with the kind of connection Katsuki and Izuku have.

“Hey, Deku! I think we got too far from Shitty Hair and Pinky! Let’s go back!” Katsuki yells when Deku halts mid-air. But Deku doesn’t turn back, he stays frozen looking at the distance. “Deku! Let’s go!”

When Izuku doesn’t move again, Bakugou squints his eyes to find out what the dragon is looking at and then his heart drops.

There are fours huge dragons coming their way, flying straight towards him and Deku.

“SHIT! DEKU! WE GOTTA MOVE! THEY CAN’T SEE US!” Katsuki screams pulling at Izuku’s neck to get the dragon out of his stupor. “LET’S GO, DEKU!”

Finally, Izuku snaps out of it, turns on his quirk and they fly away quickly. Katsuki doesn’t even look back. They need to find Kirishima and Mina and go back to the continent. Bakugou doesn’t want to think about what can happen if other dragons catch the Vikings riding Izuku and Mina. Izuku has mentioned before that they have rules about not contacting humans, and right now Katsuki wishes he had paid attention and asked more questions about those rules.

It doesn’t take long for them to find the others with Izuku’s impressive speed. Kirishima and Mina are leisurely playing with the waves. The dragon goes down until the tips of her big wings touch the sea, then she sprinkles water around them and Kirishima laughs happily.

“SHITTY HAIR! PINKY! WE GOTTA GO!” Bakugou yells. 

Izuku must have sent one of his telepathic messages to the girl because Mina stops mid-air much like Izuku had done before with a terrified look on her face.

“LET’S GO! WE NEED TO GO BACK!” Katsuki yells again and the dragons resume flying towards the mountaintop.

Izuku only uses his quirk to keep up with Mina, they can’t leave anyone behind in this situation. Katsuki can feel his heart banging on his chest. Shit, did the other dragons see him on top of Izuku?

He doesn’t know. Maybe. It’s hard to say because the distance and the sun may hinder their vision. But maybe they did, and if they did what will the dragons think? That Izuku is a traitor? That Katsuki has the dragon under his command? Will they kill Izuku? Will they destroy all the human villages?

They don’t stop until they reach the mountaintop again. As soon as they land, Kirishima and Katsuki jump off the dragons and they shift back into their human form.

“What happened? Why did we run back?” Kirishima asks confused.

“Let’s go! We need to go back to the village!” Katsuki says pulling Izuku by the wrist.

“Kacchan! We can’t! They may look for us there!” Izuku pulls back forcing Katsuki to stay.

“They who? What is happening?”

“Izuku and Feisty saw four dragons flying. They saw Izuku.” Mina explains to Kirishima then looks back to the other dragon. “Are you sure it was them?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” He says serious.

“They shouldn’t have been around here, it’s too far away from the archipelago.” Mina shakes her head.

“That can only mean they are looking for us.” Izuku says.

“They who? You know those dragons?” Katsuki asks Izuku.

“Yes, they are my friends.” Izuku says uncomfortable.

“Hey! If they are friends, then why are we freaking out? We just gotta talk to them!” Kirishima says smiling as if everything was solved just like that.

“It’s not like that, Kiri… Even though they are our friends, it doesn’t mean they will approve of us making friends with humans.” Mina says pouting.

“That is why we need to fucking go NOW! Back to the village! We need to hide!” Katsuki pulls Izuku again.

Why is he being so stubborn? Why aren’t they just following Bakugou’s lead?

“Kacchan, if they find us in the village there will be fights! The humans will attack and the dragons will counter! You and Kirishima need to go! Mina and I will go talk to them!” Izuku says definitively.

“Hell to the no! I’m not leaving you alone! They may have seen me on your back! They could hurt you because of the rules about not interacting with humans!” Katsuki protests. 

“Kacchan, you need to go! It’s too dangerous! I’m not gonna let you get hurt!” Izuku says angry.

“Too fucking bad, shitty Deku! I’m not gonna let you get hurt either!” Katsuki yells back.

Before Izuku could respond, they hear a huge roar coming from the sky.

The four dragons found them. There is a navy blue dragon, a striped light pink and silver one, one seems to be all shades of purple, and a half white and half red dragon. They are quite a colorful bunch, Katsuki would be impressed if he wasn’t so freaked out.

The dragons are now too close, they can’t run away anymore. Bakugou also doesn’t have his weapons, he left them behind when he ran after Izuku that morning. Kirishima is also unarmed, so they really are just sitting ducks right now.

Katsuki pulls Izuku to his arms, half hugging and half protecting the smaller boy. Whatever may happen right now, he needs to take care of Izuku. It’s all his fault this is happening, he was the only to hunt down Izuku on the first place and then demand Izuku to keep talking to him. He needs to take responsibility over this mess and make sure none gets hurt.

“There are you guys!” A voice sounds on their back spooking Katsuki and making him hug Izuku even tighter against his chest. “We’ve been looking for you four all over this stupid mountain!”

Sero shows up from the treeline with a very tired-looking Kaminari.

“You guys are the worst! Running away to play without us and making us look for you all for hours! Now I’m too exhausted to play and someone will have to take me back down to the village!” Kaminari whines making way towards them.

Shit, things just got even worse.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katsuki in this chapter:
> 
> ε=ε=┏( >_<)┛
> 
> (҂⌣̀_⌣́)
> 
> ♥(ˆ⌣ˆ)
> 
> ＼(＾▽＾)／
> 
> (⊙□⊙)
> 
> (>⌓<;)


	19. How to OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I regret nothing.

**How to OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING?!**

Kaminari Denki is really tired of being left behind while Bakugou and Kirishima run off to play. Yeah, they may say they are doing ‘special training’ but Denki knows that is bullshit. They are having fun and going on dates with Mina and Izuku. 

So that morning, when he heard around the village that the four were seen running up the mountain, he grabbed Sero and ran after them. He wants to have fun too! It’s unfair that he and Sero are left behind just because they don’t have girlfriends or boyfriends! Kyoka is going to come around someday, ok?

He honestly thought they would find Bakugou and the others pretty quickly and not hike aimlessly in that mountain for the best part of the day. But, finally, they have found them! There they are… hugging each other with terrified looks on their faces?

“Guys!! There is no need to freak out! We won’t rattle you all to Aizawa! We just want to play around too!” Denki says pouting and crossing his arms. 

Really, he and Hanta walked all the way up here to be received in such a rude way! That is not cool!

“Kami, I don’t think they are nervous about Aizawa.” Sero says with a very serious and scared voice by his side.

Denki whips his head to see what is wrong with his friend and notices all the blood seem to have vanished from Sero’s face. He is deadly pale and pointing to the sky absolutely terrified as well. 

“What? What are you all talking abo-” Kaminari says looking to where Hanta is pointing just to see four gigantic dragons landing just forty feet away from them. 

Izuku and Bakugou are hugging each other, Bakugou has this ugly snarling face on looking ready to fight the dragons with his teeth and nails. Mina is hiding Kirishima behind her body, and the boy is hugging her by the waist and hiding his face on the crook of her neck. None of them have weapons or any way to properly defend themselves, so Denki has an idea.

“GUYS! DON’T MOVE! THEY WON’T NOTICE WE ARE HERE IF WE DON’T MOVE!”

“WHAT? THEY CAN FUCKING SEE US, IDIOT!”

“DON’T YELL, BAKU! YOU ARE GOING TO STARTLE THE DRAGONS AND THEY WILL EAT US! JUST PLAY DEAD AND DON’T MOVE!”

“YOU’RE THE ONE SCREAMING! AND HOW CAN WE PLAY DEAD AND NOT MOVE AT THE SAME TIME?”

“CREATIVELY!”

“You guys, they can hear you,” Mina says rolling her eyes. 

Kirishima releases his hold on the girl’s waist, grab her hands and forces her to look into his face.

“KIRI! I TOLD YOU NOT TO MOVE!” Denki yells.

“Mina! I love you! I’ve been hiding my feelings for so long, but if we are going to die, I can’t have any regrets! You are the love of my life and I want to marry you in a big beautiful party, probably in spring so we can have hundreds of pink flowers and I will build us a house with a big library so we can have all the storybooks you would ever want!” 

Kirishima’s eyes are shining with tears and he has the most beautiful smile on his face. Denki is so happy one of his best friends found love like that! It will be the most beautiful wedding! Not everyone is as supportive as Kaminari though, and everybody yells at the same time:

“CONGRATS, KIRI! YOU ARE GOING TO BE A VERY HANDSOME GROOM!” Denki expresses his support.

“‘HIDING FOR SO LONG’?! BITCH, IT’S BEEN LESS THAN A WEEK! THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, SHITTY HAIR?” Bakugou expresses his reservations about the wedding. Alright, maybe it’s a little sudden but when love happens, it happens, Bakugou!

“GUYS, IS THIS REALLY THE MOMENT FOR THIS? THE DRAGONS LOOK CONFUSED!” Sero screams, still looking very terrified.

“SHUT UP, YOU ALL!” Izuku yells furious. Denki has never been the sweet little dude so angry. Maybe he is also stressed about the dragons? “LET MINA ANSWER HIM!” Then he looks at Mina with a supportive smile and motions with his hand for her to go on.

“Ahn… Maybe Sero is right and we should deal with this first?” Mina has a tense smile on her face and points to the four dragons who have been very politely waiting all this time.

“I HAVE AN IDEA!” Sero says pulling an apple from the pocket of his pants and rolling it towards the dragons. “WHEN THEY GO TO EAT, WE RUN!”

“YOU CAN’T JUST YELL THE PLAN!” Bakugou yells, at this point the vein on his temple is visually throbbing. It’s a little freaky, Baku really needs to learn how to deal with stress.

“Yeah, dude, do dragons even like apples?” Denki asks Sero confused.

“We like them, but there is only one apple and six of us, so I don’t think it’s going to work.” Izuku says shrugging.

Yeah, that makes sense. You can’t expect six dragons to share on-

“WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘SIX OF US’?” Kaminari yells completely confused.

“CAN WE DEAL WITH THIS WITHOUT SCREAMING?” Mina yells while patting Kirishima’s back caringly, Kirishima seems to be crying.

“Mina and I are dragons as well, Kami! These are our friends, they were looking for us just like you and Sero!” Izuku explains calmly.

Well, at least he and Sero aren’t the only ones being left out of the dates.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU TWO ARE DRAGONS?” Sero screams and suddenly the huge dark blue dragon disappears and, in its place, there is a young man around their age with glasses and dressed with dark blue pants and a pristine white shirt.

“I must agree with Mina, all this screaming around is terribly unbecoming. Since it seems to me that these humans aren’t threats, let’s sit and talk properly about the destruction of their settlement.”

“WHAT! FUCK YOU, GLASSES! YOU AIN’T DESTROYING SHIT!” Bakugou yells. “I’M NOT GONNA LET YOU HURT MY VILLAGE OR MY FRIENDS!”

And then, poof, another dragon transforms. This time it is the pink and silver dragon that becomes a girl with round pink cheeks and a pretty pink dress. She looks very pissed off, like rivaling Bakugou’s level of angry.

“THEEN WHY DID U TOOK MA FRENDS’WAY?” She marches over Bakugou menacingly.

Quickly, the other two dragons transform into humans; the purple one becoming a handsome boy with wild lavender hair, dark purple pants and a flowy white shirt; and the white and red dragon becomes a white and red boy (it’s freaky, his hair and face are split right down the middle with the two colors). 

The lavender boy holds the girl’s arm and doesn’t let her go at Bakugou. At the same time, Izuku keeps hugging Bakugou and preventing him from going at the girl.

“I DIDN’T TAKE ANYONE AWAY, ROUND CHEEKS! THEY WANT TO STAY WITH US!”

The red and white boy gets closer and asks quietly (quietly enough that Kaminari and Sero almost don’t hear, so they have to get closer to understand the tea), “Izuku, is this true?”

“Ye-yeah” Izuku stutters looking down. “They haven’t done anything bad to us, and this is no one’s fault but my own. Mina was just keeping me company, I’m the one who broke the silence pact and revealed my magic to these humans.”

“Hey! Stop right there, you didn’t reveal to everyone! I didn’t know a thing! Did you, Sero?” Kaminari asks looking as Hanta who just shakes his head confused. “See? We didn’t know and that is just not cool, man. Not only you four were going on special plays dates and having fun on your own, but you actually hid that YOU AND MINA WERE MAGIC DRAGONS!” Kaminari says waving his hands wildly, then he completes with a sad voice. “I thought we were friends…”

“Oh, Kami! We are friends!” Mina pleads, still petting Kirishima’s hair. “We just didn’t want to scare you two!”

“And vvee? Didun nouone tink of we?” The pink girl's eyes fill with tears and her lips quiver. Oh, the poor thing! She is also sad about being left behind and out of the loop!

“Yeah! What about them? That is really not cool, Izuku! Your friends look pretty sad about this whole thing!” Kaminari walks over and positions himself by the other dragons' side to show his support about being left in the dark about this whole situation. They had to stick together!

“Denki, dude, maybe… I don’t know… Come back here? To this side?” Sero says awkwardly showing the spot by his side to Kaminari.

“No! We deserve explanations, Sero! These four hurt our feelings!” He says putting one of his arms around the lavender guy’s shoulders and the other around the pink girl. Then he looks at them and says “Hi! I’m Kaminari Denki, you can call me Kami or Denki!”

Lavender guy gives him a small smile that makes Denki’s stomach fill with weird butterflies and says quietly, “I’m Hitoshi and this is Ochako.”

“Ni-nice to meet you, Hitoshi” Denki says blushing.

“OH NO! NOT ANOTHER ONE! YOU FUCKERS HAVE NO SENSE OF DECENCY!? THIS WHOLE LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT BULLSHIT IS STARTING TO GET ON MY NERVES!” Bakugou yells making Denki jump and take his arms off the dragon’s shoulders.

“Kacchan! You shouldn’t judge people’s feelings like that! They can love whoever they want!” Izuku nags him, glaring at the taller boy. Bakugou just huffs but keeps quiet.

“Again, I do believe we should sit down to have a proper conversation. This whole ordeal is breaking every rule in the book and we need to make things right.” The dark-blue boy says karate chopping the air to make his point.

…

It takes a damn long time until everyone, humans and dragons, are sitting in a big circle on the shadow of a tree. Izuku has to hold Bakugou down the whole time, or else the blond boy would start snarling at the other dragons. Ochako is still sniffling while being accompanied by Hitoshi (and yeah, maybe Kaminari and Hitoshi traded some glances. But Denki is just curious about the boy, ok? It’s not every day you meet a handsome and mysterious magic dragon).

Kirishima and Mina seem to be in a bubble of their own. The boy still has tears in his eyes and a puffy nose, and they whisper quietly to one another. Denki only heard a few odd phrases like ‘but you don’t want to?’, ‘we can talk about this later, it’s too early…’, and ‘of course I liked it! It was pretty manly, as you say’.

“Right, now that we are all settled, we can begin. The official ruling of the Elders states that if the dragon's ability to shift into human form is discovered by humans, the human settlement of the one who discovered must be destroyed and the dragon who allowed the discovery must be taken to judgment by the Elders.” The dark-blue dragon, that Denki found out is called Tenya, says seriously and fixes his glasses on his face.

“NO! I’M NOT GONNA LET YOU DESTROY SHIT, FOUR-EYES!” Katsuki yells and is shushed by Izuku.

“That is just the official ruling, Kacchan. It doesn’t mean we are going to follow it!”

“I think we need to hear the whole story before making any kind of decision,” Shouto says calmly, indicating for Tenya to sit back.

“I can explain,” Izuku says perking up on his place. “Kacchan and I met at a tiny island on the border of human and dragon territory. I was hurt, and he… he tried to kill me to take my teeth as is Viking tradition.” The dragons’ breath hitches as they hear that.

“But he didn’t!” Izuku completes. “I transformed before he could swing his sword and we began talking. Kacchan had a lot of questions about dragons, and I had a lot of questions about humans. So we decided to keep meeting, first on Turtle Island, and then in this mountaintop. We became friends…” He smiles at Katsuki and says quietly, “special friends.”

“And is that why you are staying here for so long? Mina said you were hurt.” Hitoshi asks.

“I was! I tried using my quirk, and you guys know what it can do to me… So I broke my wings and had to stay some time in the human village with Kacchan and Kirishima.”

“How did Kirishima find out?” Shouto asks, and Ochako talks over him.

“AN HUW DID U HURT ‘GAIN? THE HOOMANS FORCED U TO SUSE U QUIRK!” Ochako asks angrily.

“No, they didn’t! They didn’t force me to do anything, Ochako! We were training, Kacchan has been helping me learn how to control my powers. He taught me to use my teeth and now to use my quirk!” Izuku defends them fiercely.

“So that is why you flew faster than us out there by the sea.” Hitoshi comments and Denki can’t help but ask.

“You can fly? That is so cool!”

“Of course he can fucking fly, Dunce Face! You saw him arrive flying just an hour ago!” Katsuki barks and Denki blushes because he forgot about that.

“Yeah, right…” Denki murmurs and Shinso gives him another one of his small smiles that makes his heart flutter.

“Congratulations on learning how to use your teeth and quirk, Izuku!” Tenya says proudly.

“And about Kirishima?”

“Oh, yeah! Kirishima followed Kacchan one afternoon because he was curious why Kacchan kept disappearing and then he saw us.” Izuku says.

“More like followed six times, but I found them eventually…” Kirishima says chuckling.

“And none of you are afraid of dragons?” Shouto asks with his usual even voice. It’s so weird how that dragon doesn’t show emotion at all when Mina, Izuku and Ochako are so honest with their feelings. 

“What is there to be afraid of? Damn lizards are just big! I can take any of you down!” Bakugou barks with a snarl in place.

“Kacchan! That isn’t polite!” 

“What is not polite is these fuckers coming here and threatening us! We haven’t done anything wrong!”

“But you did”, Tenya interrupts. “Kirishima, Kaminari and Sero may have been innocent bystanders who got wrangled in your mess, but Izuku and Bakugou broke every rule of the Dragons and Vikings. I’m well aware that Viking law state dragons should be killed on sight if they are in human territory.”

“Well, those rules suck! I’m not gonna kill Deku!” 

“You may choose to disregard the rules of your people, Bakugou, but we are dragons. We respect our Elders and their rules” Tenya says decisively.

“Exactly, Tenya. The Elders' ruling states everything you said so far, but it also states that when an Elder is present, he can choose to forfeit the traditional ruling and instead use his own judgment to decide what must be done.”

“That is true”, Tenya acquiesces.

“And I’m the youngest member of the Elders Council, so my ruling should be final about this matter,” Shouto says and suddenly everybody seems tenser.

Katsuki hugs Izuku against his chest again and Mina and Kirishima join their heads while holding hands. Denki looks over to Hitoshi thinking about holding his hand too, just to show support and such, but Shouto keeps talking before he can do anything.

“My ruling is that we don’t have enough information yet. This seems to be a very unique situation, it can’t be compared to the cases we have heard about a dragon’s magic being discovered by humans. The humans and dragons in question clearly have very strong feelings for each other. We must stay here to properly understand if they pose a threat to all dragons before making a final decision.”

“WHAT?” Katsuki screams.

“NO!” Ochako protests.

“You could stay at my place,” Denki says smiling to Hitoshi.

“Well, since Elder Shouto has decided I suppose we have no option but to mingle with the humans.” Tenya agrees.

“How can he be an Elder if he looks about our age?” Sero asks.

“It’s a political thing, his father is already part of the Council and Shouto is really strong.” Izuku explains to him.

Sero laughs, “we are lucky this doesn’t happen in our village, or else we’d have to put up with Bakugou acting like he is the boss around here.”

“Does Bakugou have a standing over the humans’ political affairs?” Shouto asks Izuku.

“Yes! His mother is the ruler, that makes Kacchan a princess!” Izuku says smiling.

“I’M NOT A FUCKING PRINCESS!” 

Kaminari can’t help rolling around laughing with the image of Bakugou wearing a puffy dress and a little crown.

“Oh my god! Baku is a princess! This is priceless!”

“I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU, DUNCE FACE!” Katsuki launches himself at Denki trying to strangle him, but Kaminari has been running away from Bakugou’s murder attempts since he could walk, so you could say he is kind of an expert. 

He rolls away before Bakugou manages to catch him, and gets up on his feet to start running before the furious blond could notice. However, there are too many people around and Denki ends up stumbling over Hitoshi. Kaminari blushes a vivid red when he sees he is practically on top of the handsome dragon and forgets he should be running from Bakugou.

Luckily, Hitoshi doesn’t forget and pulls him away when Katsuki barges against them. Bakugou ends up knocking over Tenya and makes his glasses fly away. Finally, Izuku grabs hold of Bakugou again preventing him from attacking other people as an enraged bull.

“KACCHAN! STOP!”

“My glasses! I lost my glasses!” Tenya says anxiously. “Nobody step on them!”

“Why do you need glasses anyway, dude? I thought dragons had perfect vision.” Sero asks confused.

“We do, but our human form is a representation of how we look inside our hearts. If Tenya’s mental image of himself has glasses, his human form will have glasses.” Mina explains to him.

“I can’t find them!” Tenya cries trying to feel for the glasses on the fluffy grass.

“We will help you, bro!” Kirishima says kneeling down of the grass to look for the glasses as well.

“FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, THEY ARE MAGIC GLASSES. CAN’T HE TURN IT OFF AND ON AGAIN?” Katsuki asks frustrated.

“Kacchan, not again! Don’t be rude! I thought you understood how this works with the whole Mina being pink thing.” Izuku shakes his head disappointed with Katsuki before kneeling down and looking for the glasses too.

Suddenly, a very crucial question pops on Kaminari’s mind. A question that may change their whole world's concept.

“Hey! Are the sheep magic too?” He asks and everyone stops what they are doing and look at him with different levels of disbelief.

Katsuki looks ready to yell at him and then he stops himself, thinks again and murmurs quietly “I never thought about that…”

Kirishima’s eyes grow huge and he only says “sneaky goats!”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I regret nothing 😂
> 
> This must be the stupidest thing I ever wrote and I'm so proud of it.  
> Some of the jokes in this chapter have been flying in my head since I started thinking about this fic.
> 
> Oh, and EVERY interaction between Shinso and Kaminari in this fic is dedicated to [@greatcloudninja](https://twitter.com/greatcloudninja?s=09)! She is the one who converted me to this ship and if you liked it, you should check her ShinKami fics!
> 
> I hope you all liked it! 
> 
> **And if you want to read more stupidness, I wrote a small oneshot of 'prequel' of this story to celebrate the 1000 kudos!**  
> [You can check it out here!](https://twitter.com/CrispyMika/status/1144407103832018945?s=19).


	20. How to (break) follow The Rules

**How to** ~~**break**~~ **follow The Rules**

Tenya has been going through a complicated time in his life. In the last week, he broke more rules than he could ever imagine himself breaking. But when one of your best friends is missing, another seems to be hiding a secret and the rest is left behind suffering, he can’t accept it quietly.

Izuku has always been a special dragon among them, Tenya has him in the highest regard. While strength in the dragon community is measured by one’s ability to wield their quirk and hide their feelings, Izuku taught them power can come in many different forms. In his case, it comes as compassion, resilience and strong emotions.

If there is something Tenya is sure, it’s that Izuku would never accept to be left behind if he heard a friend was in need. Izuku would disregard every rule and even common sense just to offer his help and make sure the friend was alright.

That’s why Tenya couldn’t wait for any second longer. Ochako had been so sad without the little green dragon, it broke Tenya’s heart to see her like that. And not only her, everyone was worried. Inko was clearly just barely holding together, Shouto was working overtime to make sure it didn’t fall into the Elders’ ears, Hitoshi was even more reclusive than usual.

So he decided something had to be done. He knew it would be against the Elders’ ruling, but Tenya believes the most important rule of all is the one that says every dragon is an indispensable part of their society and everyone should be protected. They need to find Izuku, their flock is incomplete without him.

Tenya isn’t really used to breaking rules, so the first one he went to ask for help was Hitoshi. The purple dragon communicated to Tenya that he followed Mina for a while when she went away, but since she’s bigger, faster, and he had to keep his presence hidden, he only saw the general direction that she was going.

Hitoshi wanted to go after Izuku as well, but he knows his quirk isn’t suited for long travels. It’d be too dangerous to go alone, and he’d never be able to defend himself against Mina if she decided his company wasn’t welcome.

Anyway, that was a good start. They had some idea of where to begin looking and had two dragons willing to go. But that was not enough, they needed someone strong and with legitimacy of power since they had no idea what Mina and Izuku were up to. They needed Shouto.

“If the other Elders discover, they can decide that what we’re doing is treason.” The red and white dragon thought as emotionless as ever.

“But if you are with us, they won’t. We could all say we thought this wasn’t an issue important enough for them, so we asked for your help,” Hitoshi argued.

“I’m ready to face the consequences of our actions, but I cannot go on another day without doing anything. It was clear Mina was hiding important information concerning Izuku from us.”

In the end, Shouto agreed. Tenya knew he would, Izuku is his best friend and he’d been feeling guilty over their altercation the last time Izuku was seen. Interesting fact, actually, Izuku is everyone’s best friend. He’s the one dragon they all go to with their malaises; maybe the fact they hadn’t realized the torments going through Izuku’s mind while telling him their own is what drove the little green dragon away.

The three dragons got ready to fly searching for Izuku, but someone decided she wouldn’t be left behind. Ochako intercepted them and demanded to accompany in their quest. Tenya was against it, the girl is just as emotional as Izuku and that could bring issues. Shouto, however, allowed saying maybe she’d be the one that could actually connect with their missing friend.

It took them quite a while to find Izuku and, when they did, the situation was worse than anything Tenya could have ever thought. Izuku and Mina were living among humans, as a human, with people who knew about them being a dragon. Honestly, not even in Tenya’s worst nightmare that was a possibility.

He had half a mind of just killing the humans, raze their settlement and bring Mina and Izuku back to the archipelago to deal with it. But he couldn’t move when seeing the humans interact with them and each other. It was amazing how their feelings were all displayed for the world to see, even though they don’t communicate through their thoughts.

And Izuku learned how to use his quirk! Tenya didn’t think this was possible at all but, apparently, Izuku and the angry human by his side are pulling off all kinds of impossible things. Shouto seems to agree because he pulled off a ridiculously old and unused ruling to not put an immediate end to all of this; and now they are all going down to the human settlement to understand more deeply what’s happening.

However, there is something that troubles Tenya profoundly about what he just saw.

The red-haired human, Kirishima he believes is how he’s called, asked Mina to be his mate. Just like that! Out of nowhere! In front of everyone! Without the proper courting dance! In daylight! Without even showing her a proper nest!

Mina should have said no instantly! But she didn’t, and that makes Tenya believe she wants to say yes but couldn’t given the complete mess of a proposal the human made. 

During their hike down the mountain, Tenya observes how Mina scents and pets Kirishima very lovingly and the human doesn’t retribute the proper way. Then it hits him: the human doesn’t know how to properly court a dragon! Their cultures have been completely separated for centuries, there’s no way the Viking would know. And Izuku has never been very interested in this kind of thing, so he wouldn’t explain things clearly for Kirishima.

Alright, Tenya will have to rectify this situation. He can’t allow his dear friend Mina to be subjected to this substandard courting. During the time Shouto needs to determine if they will allow the humans to live or not, Tenya will teach Kirishima how to properly court a dragon.

***

When they got to the outskirts of the village, it was decided they needed to separate. The dragon group was too big and would gather too much attention walking around. 

The process of dividing who would go with who was a huge commotion. It took blood, sweat, and tears to separate Izuku from Bakugou; but Ochako would not accept being away from the green dragon. And since Bakugou is a princess in this settlement, Shouto has to debate the proper procedure they’d follow.

Seeing his chance to help Mina, Tenya demands that he accompanies Kirishima. It also takes some convincing, the red headed Viking didn’t want to be away from the pink dragon; but since Sero still seemed to be in some kind of shock, everyone agreed that he could be paired with Mina, as the boy wasn’t scared of her so much. That left Hitoshi with Kaminari, and they’re all set.

As soon as everybody scattered around, Kirishima turns to Tenya a little anxious.

“Ahn… Is there something specific you’d like to see? Izuku and Mina really liked checking out the books and the food…”

“Kirishima, I’m here to help my friends.” Tenya says determined. “I thought I’d help Izuku, but I can’t ignore the fact Mina seems to be in dire need of my assistance.”

“What? Why? Isn’t she alright?” The young Viking asks worriedly.

“Not after that awful display of courting you did! It was an embarrassment!” Tenya protests and Kirishima looks at him sadly.

“I-... I just thought you’re going to kill us! I didn’t want to die hiding my feelings!” Kirishima explains emotionally.

“Well, I do appreciate the feeling, and had we followed proper protocol, you’d all have died. However, the execution of the mating proposal was atrocious. I can’t stand by idly watching my dear friend Mina put up with this kind of behavior. If you want to be Mina’s mate, you ought to do the proper courting ritual!”

“What? Wait… So this means you aren’t going to kill us anymore?” The redhead asks confused.

“That’s to be decided, Shouto is the one who will have the final decision about this. He’s a newly appointed Elder and has power over the rules and regulations.”

“...Then you’re going to help me court Mina even though you may have to kill me in a few days?” Kirishima seems even more doubtful and confused, humans really aren’t particularly smart..

“Of course! As I said, I’m here to provide assistance to my friends. There doesn’t seem much I can do about Izuku’s situation, but I won’t turn my back to Mina’s struggle!”

“I still don’t follow you, man. How can it be in the rules to help me court her but out of the rules to let us know you exist?” It’s going to be a lot of work to make the Viking understand the delicate intricacies of the courting ritual, but Tenya won’t give up without trying his best.

“It’s simple, there isn’t any kind of ruling about humans and dragons mating. Probably because no Elder ever thought it was a possibility but, nonetheless, rules are rules. That being said, have you danced?”

“Danced?”

“Yes, the mating dance. The last step of the courting ritual. Since you seem to be doing everything in the wrong order, I need to be sure you haven’t danced or else this will get so much more complicated.”

“No, we haven’t danced… Will you really help me court Mina the proper way?” Kirishima looks at him with an expecting expression.

“I must certainly will! I won’t let Mina go through a bad courting!” Tenya says with certainty and the Viking jumps to hug him.

“Thank you so much, dude! I really appreciate it! I’ve been really lost about how to woo Mina, it’s gonna be great to have help!”

***

“A red fish?” Kirishima asks doubtfully.

“It’s a recommendation. You need to give her a fish that’s hard to catch, to represent how she’s worth the effort. You can’t give her a moonfish and expect her to be impressed.” Tenya explains for the silly human.

“So I need to personally catch the fish?” Kirishima scratches his face thoughtful. “We’d have to get a boat for that… and it may take a while, I don’t think there are special fish close to the continent.”

“No, the closest red fish shoal is about four hours flying from here.” Tenya adjusts his glasses. “We have to go soon then.”

“Four hours flying? That’d make at least six hours by boat! If I stay away half a day like that, Bakugou’s gonna kill me, man!” Kirishima whines, then he completes more excitedly. “I know! Let’s go to the market! We’ll certainly find something there!”

Kirishima grabs Tenya by his arm and runs with him towards the center of the village. Tenya has heard about the human agglomerations, but it’s quite amazing to see it firsthand. The sheer amount of ‘things’ the humans need to live is fascinating.

And they have quite an intricate set of rules of their own. It makes absolutely no sense at all, but it’s interesting to see how the humans organize their chaotic existence. Humans are very weak and feeble creatures, but at the same time are aggressive and blood-thirsty, no wonder they need to have so many regulations in place just to not kill each other.

The young Viking leads Tenya to a stand where several fish are displayed. So that’s how humans share the fruits of their fishing. He knows most humans don’t fish for themselves, it makes sense that they have a system to share the food later.

“So, which one? This is a big guy, don’t you think?” Kirishima points to a silver fish but Tenya shakes his head.

“That’s completely unacceptable! First of all, there’s no challenge in getting this fish! Second, that’s the most regular type of fish of all!” Tenya protests. “Kirishima, if you aren’t serious about courting Mina, I must withdraw my support for your mating!”

“No, no! I’m sorry! I’m sure we can find a way!” Kirishima pleads. 

They walk around the market trying to find inspiration to overcome. Tenya takes the opportunity to try and understand the social systems at play in the market. Apparently, every stand offers a selection of goods and people exchange the good for some shiny flat pebbles.

Tenya supposes the humans at the stalls use the flat pebbles to take different goods from other stalls. It’s quite a useful system, Tenya just doesn’t understand why the humans think they can trade pebbles with sheep. There’s a stall where a human is advertising the sheep wants twenty pebbles for its wool. What would the sheep need the pebbles for?

“Hey, the important part of the ritual is showing Mina I’m willing to work hard for her, right?” Kirishima asks by his side.

“Exactly! You can’t expect Mina to mate with someone that doesn’t think she’s worthy of hard work.”

“Alright, I have an idea!”

Kirishima drags him to a house just at the end of the market where a delicious sweet smell is coming from. Tenya has never smelled something so delicious before and his mouth waters even though he doesn’t see any fish or fruit around.

“Sato! I need your help!” Kirishima greets the big Viking that they can see from the window of the house. “I need you to teach me how to make Taiyaki!”

“Taiyaki?” The other human scrunches his eyebrows in confusion. “Why do you need to learn how to make them? We have them ready to go here.”

“I know, but help me out, bro! I need to impress a girl!” Kirishima pleads, getting a chuckle from Sato.

“Alright, get in. Let’s teach you how to make Taiyaki.”

When they enter the house, the smell is even more intoxicating. Tenya’s belly grumbles and he almost misses the proper introductions.

“Tenya, this is Sato! His family is the town’s bakers!” Kirishima says smiling. “Sato, this is one more person from Izuku’s village who came to spend some time.”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sato” Tenya says and his belly grumbles again.

“Nice to meet you, Tenya. Do you want a piece of honey bread? Izuku said you don’t have it in your village, and it seems to me that you’re hungry.”

Before Tenya could protest, Sato put something fluffy and that smells delicious in his hand. It took just one bite for him to understand why Izuku and Mina were invested in protecting the human settlement. Surely anyone who could create something so amazing can’t be all that bad, right? Tenya must be sure to bring a piece of honey bread for Shouto before the young Elder makes his final decision about the humans’ fate.

Tenya may not understand how learning to make Taiyaki will serve as the courting offering for Mina, but he can’t say it isn’t hard work. The process of cooking the Taiyaki takes over two hours, and in this time Tenya sees Kirishima struggling every step of the way with Sato’s instructions.

“No, you can’t smash the eggs in! There are shells on the batter now!”

“That’s salt! I told you to add sugar!”

“Don’t stop stirring the bean paste! Or else it’s going to burn!.... It burned.”

Finally, the batter was done, the filling wasn’t burned and everything was put in an iron mold. Even though he was completely lost to what exactly what Kirishima was doing, Tenya couldn’t help but feel a little invested in the end product. He hopes it turns out alright, for Kirishima’s and Mina’s sake.

When Sato tells Kirishima to take the Taiyaki off the mold, finally Tenya can understand what they were doing. The redhead Viking shows the dragon a perfect fish. Well, it isn’t really a fish because no fish is made of flour, sugar, eggs, and milk and filled with sweet beans. 

But it looks like a fish and it took a lot of hard work, so Tenya gives his approval.

“So, what do you think?” Kirishima asks him with anxiety written all over his face.

“I think… it’s a proper gift. We can take it to Mina.” Tenya says nodding.

***

They run around the village to find Mina and Sero, the two of them were sitting on a bench on the outskirts of the village. Kirishima asks him about eight times if Tenya really thinks the Taiyaki is alright on the way there.

“Hey guys! What are you up to?”

“Dragons. There are dragons on the village, Kirishima.” Sero says, apparently still not over his shock.

Mina gives an awkward smile, “I thought maybe some fresh air and keeping away from the crowd would help him, but…”

Tenya turns to the redhead, “it’s time. Offer your gift to her.”

Kirishima nods, takes the Taiyaki with his two hands and extend towards Mina in a bow. 

“This is for you, Mina! I’m sorry for doing things in the wrong order!”

Mina blushes, making the pink on her face even more apparent, as she takes the pastry from Kirishima’s hand.

“Thank you, Kiri… This is very nice of you.”

Mina smiles shyly to the Viking, and Kirishima smiles back at her. At that moment Tenya is sure he made the right choice in helping the human court his friend the proper way.

“Let’s go, Kirishima! We still have much more to get ready!” The dragon says dragging the young Viking away. 

“But I want to know if she liked it!” Kirishima complains resisting against Tenya’s pull.

“We don’t have time for it! You need to find the shells, luster your scales, get some rocks for your nest, learn the dance…”

Kirishima waves at Mina all the way until they are back inside the village, and Mina waves back at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a struggle x.x Sorry for skipping the update last week.
> 
> I hope you all like it anyway! It was my first time writing in Iida's POV!


	21. How to express your feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to the lovely [@greatcloudninja](https://twitter.com/greatcloudninja)! Without Cloud, this chapter would have never been written because she’s the one who got me to ship ShinKami with her amazing fics.

**How to express your feelings**

“So, you’re a dragon… that’s cool, never met a dragon before.” Kaminari says awkwardly as soon as they are alone. “I mean, I met Mina and Izuku, but I didn’t know they were dragons. I just thought they lived in a weird place… and that Mina had a skin condition.”

They are walking aimlessly, away from the center of the village. Hitoshi doesn’t say it, but he feels grateful for that — he doesn’t think he’d like to be around so many humans. Usually, Hitoshi doesn’t even like to be around too many dragons, being around mobs of humans isn’t what he’d consider a good idea.

This blond human, however, is different. He’s so earnest it’s hard to not be fascinated by him. 

Dragon culture dictates one’s feelings should be kept away from their thoughts. It’s considered to be a sign of maturity, self-control and wisdom to be able to not let your feelings leak into your thoughts and actions. That’s why Shouto is already accepted as one of the Elders, the young dragon is a prodigy in keeping his feelings locked away; and that’s why Izuku has always been some kind of outcast, the small green dragon couldn't hide his emotions to save his life.

Hitoshi likes that about Izuku, though. It’s hard to know who you can trust when everyone is doing their best to hide what they truly feel about you. But with Izuku, it is easy; he always thinks what he’s honestly feeling, and that’s why he became Hitoshi’s first and most precious friend. When the violet dragon came to look for his friend, he didn’t expect to find someone even more genuine than Izuku.

Denki not only expresses his emotions freely, he allows himself to feel them without any barriers. The small human, who didn’t even know dragons could shapeshift, jumped in the dragons’ defense against his friends when he thought the friends had hurt the dragons’ feelings. That instantly broke every preconception Hitoshi had of humans and made him very curious to know more about these Vikings, especially Kaminari Denki.

“And you’re a human,” Hitoshi says observing the little human.

“Yes! I am!” He answers eagerly. “Have you met humans before?”

“I can’t say that I have. I don’t work in the parties that deal with humans, so my experience with your kind is very limited.”

“What do you work with?” Kaminari asks curiously.

“Magic. I study dragon magic on my own. That’s why I mastered the transformation into my human form.” 

Hitoshi knows he shouldn’t explain anything about dragons’ life, society and magic to the pretty human. However, Kaminari’s expression of awe when the dragon answered his question was enough to put all these concerns to the back of his mind.

“That’s so cool!” The blond says with sparkles in his eyes, then he frowns. “Wait, mastered? Is it hard to look like us?”

“It’s not hard to do the shift, but it can be hard to maintain the human form.”

“Izuku and Mina never had issues in keeping their looks,” Kaminari says thoughtfully. “I mean, I think I’d have noticed if one of them transformed into a dragon in the middle of our conversation.” 

“Izuku, Mina and most of the dragons here have very unique circumstances. For example, Mina’s position in the flock demands that she keeps her human form for the most part of the day. Izuku always played around with the shift, he just liked to try keeping it up. Shouto couldn’t become an Elder without mastering every one of his abilities; same thing for Tenya, he isn’t an Elder yet, but he comes from a very influential family that values this kind of thing.”

The secrets Hitoshi knew he’d be killed for spilling come out of his mouth easily under the weight of Kaminari’s eyes on him. It’s hard to remember that humans are supposed to be terrifying and aggressive when talking to the blond.

“And Ochako?”

“Ochako will have more problems with that. I believe that’s why Izuku and she stayed behind in the mountain’s forest. They need to be able to hide her among the trees.”

“Oh,” Kaminari looks at him with a bothered expression. “I hope they’re alright. I mean, I know Bakugou would never let anything bad happen to Izuku, but he’s with Shouto right now… Should we go back and see if they need any help?”

Kaminari looks away towards the mountain with worry all over his face. The Viking just discovered Izuku is a dragon and has known Ochako for less than half a day but here he is, ready to run back to keep them safe. Hitoshi can’t help but allow a small smile tug on his lips.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. They can fly away if they see danger approaching.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right…” Kaminari answers though he still looks worried.

“What do you think the others are doing? Tenya dragged the redhead towards the center of the village, and I wonder if the blond one stopped screaming at Shouto long enough for them to pick something to do.”

Kaminari chuckles, “yeah, I don’t think so. Bakugou’s always loud, but he gets especially irrational when he’s forced to be away from Izuku.”

That opens a window of opportunity for Hitoshi to make a few questions of his own.

“Can you tell me some more about Bakugou’s relationship with Izuku?”

“What do you mean?” Kaminari tilts his head in confusion.

“Are they like Kirishima and Mina?”

The human looks deep in thought for a second, “I don't know… I never thought about it. They’re certainly very special to each other. I’ve never seen Bakugou care so much about anyone, and Izuku is always trailing after him telling how Explodey is amazing. But you want to know if they are dating, right?”

“Yes, I believe that’s the human term for the time of courtship.”

“Well, I don’t think courting is the right word for what they’re doing. I think they just love each other and want to be together.” Kaminari says matter-of-factly.

“But Izuku is a dragon, Bakugou is a human. They can’t be together.”

Hitoshi’s words have a mournful weight to them, but Kaminari just laughs. The dragon can’t help but look quizzically at the blond.

“I’m sorry, but you really don’t know Bakugou,” Denki says getting his laughter under control. “Such a small thing will never stop him from getting what he wants. When Explodey puts something in his head, he doesn’t give up on it, ever.”

The dragon cocks an eyebrow to his companion, “so you think they’ll find a way to be together?”

“I’m sure they will,” Kaminari answers with a beautiful smile.

***

Hitoshi and Kaminari end up slowly walking around the village talking for most of the day. It doesn’t seem to matter that snails are out-running them, their focus was completely on each other and their conversation.

Hitoshi learned several things about the humans that he had never thought before, like their power structure, their relationships, their everyday life. And, at the same time, taught Kaminari about how it is to be a dragon, why they keep their magic powers hidden, how their quirks work.

That, involuntarily, leads to the subject of Hitoshi’s quirk.

“So, Izuku’s strength and overall power increases; Tenya has super speed when flying and running; Mina spits acid as well as fire; while Shouto has fire and ice; Ochako can make things levitate.” Kaminari counts every dragon thoughtfully. “And you? What is your special power?”

Hitoshi closes his eyes and turns his head to the side. The dragons in the archipelago usually walk away from him when they hear about his quirk. That’s why he works on his own, alone in his nest. Izuku is the only dragon who has never looked at him warily because of his quirk, and Hitoshi believes that’s only because the green dragon couldn’t control his own powers.

But Kaminari is different, isn’t he? He hasn’t looked with fear in his eyes towards Hitoshi not even once, and the small human had every reason to do so. It’d be so much easier for Hitoshi to hurt the Viking with his sheer size in his natural form than to use his quirk. So maybe there isn’t any issue in telling the blond about his powers.

“I can control other dragons. My words take hold of their thoughts and actions, and they can’t fight against my commands,” Hitoshi says quietly.

He doesn’t know what kind of face the human is making for Hitoshi isn’t brave enough to look at Kaminari. However, after a time he hears “Wow! That’s incredible! It’s so cool! Does it work with humans? Or maybe you don’t know because you never met one before. Let’s try! Tell me to do something!”

Hitoshi looks at the blond stupefied. Is he crazy? Doesn’t he have any sense of self-preservation? Asking for a mind-controlling dragon to use his magic on a small and fragile human!

“What? No! That’s not a good idea!” The dragon protests.

“Why not? We won’t find out if your powers work on humans if we don’t try!” Kaminari argues pouting.

“It’s too dangerous. You’re too delicate for us to try something like that,” Hitoshi reasons.

“I’m not delicate! I’m a warrior Viking like everybody else! Alright, I may struggle with the ax, but I’m quite good with spears!”

“It doesn’t matter how good you’re with spears because if I use my quirk on you, you won’t be able to even pick up your weapon.”

“I know! Isn’t that neat? You can stop whole wars without anyone getting hurt! Uh, better yet! You can convince my mom to never serve fermented beans again!” The human says jumping with excitement.

Hitoshi rolls his eyes trying to be annoyed, but a small smile tugs on his lips. “What are fermented beans?”

“Oh, you never had them before? They are this disgusting food my dad loves, so mom makes them every time. They stink the whole house! And-” Kaminari starts ranting than he stops himself and looks at Hitoshi with furrowed eyebrows. “Hey! You’re trying to distract me!”

“Me? I’d never,” Hitoshi says but the teasing smirk on his face states otherwise.

“No! That’s not how you do it! Your front paw has to hold your weight while your hinder paw is extended to the back!” Tenya’s boisterous voice takes them out of their little bubble.

They look around to find Kirishima and Tenya at some distance away from them. Kirishima was on all fours on the ground with his face on the fluffy grass of the fields around the village while Tenya was karate-chopping the air while giving instructions.

“But I don’t have paws! And my knees don’t bend this way!” The redhead cries.

“Let’s go save him?” Hitoshi asks Kaminari and his human companion nods while holding back a chuckle.

They quickly walk towards the other two or else Tenya might have seriously injured Kirishima.

“Up! The left hinder leg needs to be up higher!” Tenya coaches pulling Kirishima’s leg by the ankle until the Viking is crying in pain.

“My legs don’t go so high! They're not long enough!”

Hitoshi takes Tenya’s hand out of the human’s leg because he’s pretty sure human legs aren’t supposed to be that way.

“I think that’s enough,” he says to his friend.

“Hey! What are you guys up to? Are you training?” Kaminari asks curiously while looking at the beat down form of Kirishima on the ground.

“No, I’m assisting Kirishima in how to properly court Mina!” Tenya answers enthusiastically. “What we saw before was an absolute embarrassment. No wonder Mina couldn’t say yes, that was the most subpar attempt at a mating plead that I’ve ever seen. So now, we are getting the procedure right!”

“But my body doesn’t do the proper movements for the courting dance,” Kirishima sits on the floor with a depressed expression. “Now Mina will never accept to marry me!”

“That’s not the right attitude, Kirishima! If you desire to be Mina’s mate, you can’t give up because the dance is complicated! We gotta try even harder until you do it correctly!” Tenya urges him on.

“Are you sure that’s wise, Tenya? We still haven’t heard back from Shouto and, honestly, I doubt Mina herself knows all the steps of the courting dance,” Hitoshi tries reasoning.

“One’s desire to court the mate they love shouldn’t be dependent on third parties! You have to do your best and work hard to show you’ll be a good mate!” Tenya retorts.

“Exactly! I can’t just keep waiting! I need to show Mina that I’m in this for real and that I’m not afraid to brave the hardships with her!” Kirishima completes passionately.

“Yeah! Go for it, man! Dance your socks off!” Kaminari agrees excitedly. “How can we help?”

“You can grab his right front paw while I raise his hinder left leg. This was we can put him in the proper position,” Tenya says and he and Kaminari move quickly to start pulling Kirishima’s limbs.

“Wait, wait!” Hitoshi intervenes. “Alright, we’ll teach him the courting dance, but I’m sure the dance can be adapted to his human body.”

“We need to follow the traditions, Hitoshi,” Tenya says seriously. 

“Yes, we do. But I believe the principle of the dance is more important than the movements themselves. And the principle is to showcase yourself as limber, gracious and strong. There’s nothing limber and gracious in what you two were doing so far, and the only strong thing is the pain Kirishima must be feeling.”

Tenya stops for a second holding his own chin in thought, “alright, I can see your point. But how are we going to show he’s gracious? I’ve been working with him for the whole day, and that hasn’t been apparent yet.”

“We have dances! Lots of dances! Maybe we can just take some movements from them?” Kaminari says.

“That’s an idea we can considerate. But first, we’d have to see the dances to see if they are appropriate.” 

Kirishima gets off the floor and beats the dirt out of his pants. He and Kaminari exchange a few words and then they are dancing. Kirishima’s movements are almost like a fight, fast and precise; Kaminari’s are much more fluid, it’s almost as if he’s moving inside water.

Hitoshi gets enthralled by how beautiful the human body can be moving. The dragons’ courting dance is much more primal and functional, it shows movements they normally do when hunting and fishing. However, the humans move in ways that showcase their limbs in the most appealing way, the way they twist their torsos has no clear purpose besides showing that they look nice.

They spent quite a good portion of the day helping Kirishima and Tenya put together a dance that the human could perform and the dragon thought was acceptable. The end result is a little awkward, but Hitoshi honestly doesn’t think Mina will mind.

From how he saw the pink dragon scenting and petting the human, this whole courting process is futile; she’s already completely smitten by the red headed Viking. But Hitoshi can’t say it isn’t entertaining to watch Kirishima work so hard to win her affections. The violet dragon begins to understand why Mina and Izuku seem to be so fascinated with these little humans.

When Tenya pulls Kirishima away debating about the need to fix his nest, Hitoshi sees himself alone with Kaminari again.

“I hope everything goes well with the dance,” the blond says watching the pair leave in the distance.

“I’m sure it’s going to be alright. I think Mina likes Kirishima well enough to be pleased with any kind of dance he shows her.”

“I wish you are right. I’ve never seen Kirishima so in love with someone, it’s cute!” Kaminari giggles. “And what now? What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” Hitoshi says calmly. “I came here to see if Izuku was alright. Now that I know he’s fine, I’m just killing time before Shouto decides we should go back to the archipelago.”

“Oh, so you can really go away any time now,” Kaminari says with a sad expression.

“But I can come back,” Hitoshi says before he realizes what he said. All that he knows is that he doesn’t like to see Kaminari sad. “It’s not that far away, I can come to visit you.”

Kaminari’s face opens up in a smile instantly and that tugs on Hitoshi’s heart.

“Really? That’d be great! There’s still so much we didn’t talk about! I need to show you how stinky the fermented beans are! Oh, and we need to test to see if your quirk works on humans!”

“I still don’t think that’s a good idea, Kaminari,” Hitoshi says shaking his head.

“Denki.” 

“What?”

“You-... You can call me Denki since I call you Hitoshi… You dragons don’t have family names, so it seems silly for you to call me Kaminari.” 

Hitoshi doesn’t really understand what is the big deal about calling the blond human Denki instead of Kaminari, but he recognizes that it must be something important by the pretty blush adorning the human’s face. 

“Alright. Denki,” the dragon says testing the sound of the word on his mouth.

“Ye-yeah, just like that,” Kaminari gives him an embarrassed smile. “Yeah, and I still think it’s a good idea to test your quirk on me.”

“It’s dangerous, you could get hurt.”

“What? No way. I’ll be under your command, right?” Kaminari asks and Hitoshi nods. “So? How will I get hurt? I know you won’t let me hurt myself.”

Hitoshi laughs softly at the boy’s reasoning and shakes his head again.

“Come on! I want to know how Hitoshi’s magic powers feel like!” Denki pleads.

“Oh, do you?” Hitoshi asks raising an eyebrow.

“Yes!” The Viking answers happily.

“Alright, then stay still,” Hitoshi says urging his quirk forward.

Immediately Denki’s eyes go glossy, the boy has a soft and dazed expression on his face. Hitoshi knows his power worked on the human just as well as it works on dragons. Now, what can he do with Denki?

He needs to make the blond’s body move or else the boy won’t believe Hitoshi actually used his powers on him.

“Give me your hand,” Hitoshi commands extending his own hand towards Denki.

The Viking puts his hand on top of the dragon’s. It’s so soft and small, so different from their paws. It’s fascinating the number of things humans can make with their nimble little hands.

Hitoshi lets go of the hand and says, “put your hand on your head.”

Denki obeys mindlessly, completely at Hitoshi’s will. He can certainly understand what Mina and Izuku see in the humans. They aren’t what the legends say of them, they aren’t mean and brutish. There’s nothing remotely aggressive or untrustworthy about Denki. Hitoshi can understand the pull of staying close to a human like him.

“Tilt your head to the side and show your neck to me,” Hitoshi says before he can control himself and Denki moves at his will.

The dragon takes one step closer and runs the tip of his nose in Denki’s jaw before tilting his head and rubbing his neck against the human’s neck. Scenting in this form won’t really leave any scent behind, but something inside the dragon feels good about doing it anyway. 

Maybe Denki won’t understand that scenting is an act made between close friends and dragons who care about each other deeply; but Hitoshi knows and that’s what he feels brave enough of doing to show his feelings for the human who willingly let himself fall under the dragon’s quirk. Denki’s so sure Hitoshi would never let the boy get hurt that it warmed the dragon’s heart like nothing else before.

After scenting, Hitoshi takes one step back and wills his quirk to turn off. Denki’s expressions morph from dazed and lost to a little confused and then to a beautiful smile.

“Hey! You put me in a funny position! What was I supposed to be? A teapot?” Denki chuckles tapping his own head with his hand.

Hitoshi just shrugs with a small smile, “I don’t know what a teapot is.”

Denki drops his arms to the side with an impressed expression on his face. 

“You never had tea? Man, I need to show you! I think mom still has some honey back home!” Denki takes Hitoshi’s hand and pulls him to walk. “Let’s go! It’s so delicious! You’re gonna love it!”

At that moment, Hitoshi decides that he needs to do everything in his power to guarantee Denki’s blind trust in him isn’t in vain. He can’t let Shouto decide to wipe this whole village and the humans in it. The violet dragon will have to talk to the young Elder to see what he’s thinking about doing this situation — after he tries this tea, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This little arc with the news dragons it getting me to write with several characters I've never written with before!  
> Shinso and Kami were two chapters I never thought I'd see myself writing in their POV. I hope you guys like it!
> 
> So, this past week [@TimberwolfTitan](https://twitter.com/TimberwolfTitan) has been drawing every dragon in this fic! Thank you for this gift! They turned out amazing!  
> You all can check it out here: [Mina](https://twitter.com/TimberwolfTitan/status/1156640183858728960), [Izuku](https://twitter.com/TimberwolfTitan/status/1156911220953403392), [Tenya](https://twitter.com/TimberwolfTitan/status/1156964990894710785), [Ochako](https://twitter.com/TimberwolfTitan/status/1157098236437565440), [Shouto](https://twitter.com/TimberwolfTitan/status/1157409352266989568), [Hitoshi](https://twitter.com/TimberwolfTitan/status/1157479823045996546), and [Tsuyu](https://twitter.com/TimberwolfTitan/status/1157844453471739904)


	22. How to be who you are

**How to be who you are**

Being a dragon is quite a paradoxical thing to be.

It’s living in an eternal threshold of existences. Part animal, instincts and chaos; part high reasoning being, logic and structure; part magical creature, mythical and supernatural.

The point is, these three things are always at war inside a dragon. They deny one another and fight for dominance in every moment of a dragon’s life.

As a society, the dragons try to follow their more rational side. They have a political hierarchy based on clear and objective prerequisites; and most of these requirements are about the denial of their animal side and control of their magical side.

However, at the same time, their daily routines were constructed around their instinctual needs; and their social standings are determined by their magical affinity.

It truly makes no sense.

But dragons live in this paradoxical way without questioning it. Watching from the outside, one would think that they’re just fine like that, thriving in the lack of cohesion.

Shouto, however, has learned that this isn’t true from a very young age.

His mother was a very special dragon. What made her stand out was her overwhelming connection with her magical side. Rei lived and breathed magic, it came from her in waves without she even trying.

It was a wonderful sight to see when Shouto was a small whelping. Flowers bloomed around her mother, the birds danced over her head, the very air seemed to sparkle when she smiled and the woman could make the wind take on every color of the rainbow.

Shouto has never seen any other dragon be able to do that, ever. And he hasn’t seen his mother do that either in years.

It was considered very inappropriate, unseemly, for a full-grown dragon to not be able to control her magic. It was even more unsuited for the mate of an Elder to do that. There was a great deal of pressure for his mother to suppress her magical abilities, most of it coming from Endeavor himself.

Shouto’s father is a stern and demanding man who doesn’t accept the fact that All Might is still the First Elder while Endeavor holds the second place. And the ruthless man had come to the conclusion that he couldn’t surpass All Might because his mate was a mess.

The years of stress and mental abuse took their toll on Rei’s health. She got severely depressed, her magic wilted as did the life in her eyes as well. It’s been years since his mother was able to perform any kind of magic at all, her survival instincts are nonexistent and she’s just a shell of the dragon she used to be.

Growing up while watching this made Shouto begin to question if their society really was right; if denying so many parts of themselves to fit in the mold of what a dragon should be really was the best for all the dragons.

Being Endeavor’s son and training to be a young Elder himself made Shouto stay mostly away from the other dragons his age. He was left alone ruminating about his mother, his father, and his place in the dragon society. 

What took Shouto out of his depressing loneliness was a little green dragon with a dream too big and a heart even bigger.

Izuku doesn’t fit in any kind of mold of what a dragon should be. He’s very instinctual, extremely emotional, loves to learn new abilities and can’t control the abilities he was born with for the life of him.

He’s the opposite of every single thing Shouto was taught to be right; and yet, Shouto has never met a better dragon than Izuku.

His heart makes people flock around him inadvertently, and his will to help everyone goes way beyond anything Shouto has ever seen.

That’s how Shouto came to know how so many other dragons were ‘misfits’ in their own way. Hitoshi with his quirk that scares people away and his wish to understand magic; Tenya with his incapacity of understanding instincts; Tsuyu, who makes friends with sea-creatures most dragons would consider food; Ochako that has a social-closeness need that greatly surpasses any other dragon's; and that’s just to name a few.

Since meeting them, Shouto has seen all his friends struggle with who they are in order to fit in what they are supposed to be. Every one of them loses a little of themselves in this process; and that made Shouto realize that their whole society loses with that too.

Having noticed that, Shouto decided that he’ll be an Elder — but not to reinforce the mold, to break it. He wants to help people understand that everything that makes a dragon stand out helps their society to be better, more complete and richer.

Maybe it was an oversight from Shouto; however, he never expected humans to be a part of the solution to dragon society.

“Alright, you shitty Half n’ Half, I’m going to hide you in the stables until you decide to go back to where you’re from and leave us alone,” Bakugou grumbles when they separate from the other duos.

“I need to formally introduce myself to your King,” Shouto explains as if he’s talking to a child. “It’s rude to enter someone’s territory without asking for permission.”

“You need fucking permission to enter but not to burn down the village?” The blond asks sarcastically. “Ain’t you fucking polite.”

“Exactly. I still can order an attack of every dragon on the archipelago over this settlement. So it’d be wise for you to not mock our traditions, Bakugou.”

“You fucking asshole! Just you try! I’m gonna skin you alive! You’re gonna-” The human barks and snarls at him, Shouto decides to just keep walking toward the human village.

He can’t miss this opportunity of understanding how the human society organizes itself. Shouto has always heard humans are ruled entirely by emotions and how dangerous that makes them. He has never really questioned that, but now it seems like a great oversight on his part.

Izuku is ruled mostly by his emotions and Shouto has always appreciated that on his friend. Now that he thinks about it, maybe the humans aren’t really so wrong. That is if the humans really are only following their emotions, somehow Shouto doubts that.

He’s seen a couple of their books before, no creature could have created that code of drawn language if it didn’t have some kind of high cognitive capacity. And the humans, in general, respect the boundaries of the dragon’s territory — another clear indication they understand complex concepts since their physical abilities are so lacking (they can’t smell the demarcations).

“YOU FUCKER! STOP IGNORING ME AND DON’T WANDER OFF!” Bakugou catches up to him.

At this point, they are already inside the village. The humans spare glances at Shouto but they don’t look particularly wary or aggressive, their expressions are clearly curious. That’s interesting, if a new dragon landed on the archipelago they wouldn’t feel so welcomed.

“Alright, as I was saying, we need to hide you and-”

Shouto sees one older lady who must be involved in the settlement’s politics from the amount of apples and oranges she has in her basket.

Shouto takes a deep bow before asking the woman. “Excuse, where can I find the leader of this land?”

The woman looks confused at him, “you mean Mitsuki?”

“Sorry, granny, this one got hit in the head way too many times. Come on, Halfie, I'll take you to mom,” Bakugou interrupts and tries pushing Shouto away from the old lady.

“Here, dear, have a nice day!” The old woman smiles at him without one single tooth in her mouth (maybe retractile like Izuku’s?) and puts an apple on his hand.

Shouto looks bewildered at the apple as Bakugou pushes him by the shoulders away from the old woman. That’s terribly kind of her to share her loot with someone she doesn’t even know, a foreigner in her land.

“You damn useless lizard! I’m taking you to see the old hag, but if you spout bullshit I’m gonna let her behead you in the damn village hall! I’m done trying to protect shitty lizards from their own idiocies!”

“So your mother really is the leader,” Shouto says unaffected by the human’s threats.

“She’s the Earl, the strongest warrior in the village,” the Viking explains.

The dragon just nods and starts eating his apple. It’s pretty delicious, humans know their way around fruit apparently.

The human village is very interesting. Their nests are in the middle of the way, not tucked away in caves like the dragon's, so they had to build the most intricate wood and mud covers for them. There were nest covers in several shapes, sizes and colors; quite distinct from the dragons’ caves that usually are very similar with slight depth variations depending on family size.

“We’re here,” Bakugou announces when they arrive at one particularly big building.

Big double doors lead to a huge hall. There are some long tables (completely empty at the moment), and, at the end of the room, a circle of chairs around a fire pit where people are sitting down.

It’s easy to recognize who must be Bakugou’s mother, the Earl, for there’s a woman in a chair that is bigger than the others in the room. She always has a posture that demands respect and attention; and she has the most dragon teeth around her neck.

“Shit, we got here in a bad time,” Bakugou whispers hiding in the shadows trying to not be seen by his mother.

“Why?” Shouto asks unbothered as he keeps always walking towards her but Bakugou’s arm on his chest prevents him.

“The fuckers sitting with her. They’re not from this village. They are from smaller villages from around here,” he whispers.

Oh, so not only will Shouto be introduced to a human leader — he has the unique chance of watching human leaders debate. The dragon gets quiet after that and accompanies the blond to get closer through the shadows to not disturb the meeting.

“We need help, Mitsuki. If Shigaraki’s army comes for us, we won’t survive. He has hundreds of men!” One older man pleads.

“I heard he’ll be marching our way once he’s done with the villages on the west,” a dark-haired woman says.

“I hear you all,” Mitsuki interrupts them. “But I’m not going to gather my army against Shigakari without an explicit threat. This may be exactly what he’s hoping for to justify his actions against our people.”

“But we can’t just sit and wait until he is on our backyard!” The first man urges.

“We won’t,” Mitsuki retorts. “Shigaraki is ambitious but he isn’t crazy. He can’t fight us and the villages of the marsh if we are united. I’ll send a rider to talk to them, we’ll organize a festival. Food, games, the whole thing, just to show to Shigaraki the strength of our alliance.”

“It’ll take a lot to prepare a whole festival in such short notice,” the black-haired woman says shaking her head.

“It’ll take much more to prepare for war, and it will be an even greater toll on our resources if we lost it. The festival is our best alternative. Aizawa and others are already organizing everything. I’ll ask you all to join them so you can debate what can you spare for it.”

After that, the leaders paid their respects to Mitsuki and left the hall.

“I hope you learned something, brat,” the blond woman says as soon as they are alone.

Bakugou clicks his tongue, “I learned that our enemies are afraid of parties.”

Dragon and boy get closer to the powerful woman.

“Our enemies are afraid of bonds. None of their villages stand a chance alone but, if we all get together, the enemy won’t even be brave enough to attack.” The woman’s red eyes fall into Shouto. “And you are?”

“I’m Shouto,” he answers.

“He’s the representative of Izuku’s village. He and some others came to see the -ahn- developments in the nerd’s studies.”

Mitsuki raises an eyebrow and looks from one boy to the other a couple of times. 

“Alright…” She says warily.

“I came to properly introduce myself to the settlement’s leader and say thank you for your grace in welcoming us as guests,” Shouto bows properly.

“Oh, good gracious! Ain’t you a properly behaved one! Maybe you could teach my bratty son some manners!” Mitsuki says smiling. “Though I don’t think it’d work. Sweet Izuku has been around for a while and Katsuki hasn’t learned a thing about being a darling like him.”

“Why don’t you fucking adopt him them? And shitty Halfie while you’re at it! Oh yeah, because they won’t want a crazy old hag as a mother!” Katsuki complains.

“So those people, they lead their settlements but they asked you for help?” Shouto asks interrupting their banter.

“Exactly, their villages are too small and they don’t have many warriors,” Mitsuki explains.

“And to protect them, you’re going to have to spend your village’s resources.”

“Yes, it takes a lot of money, food and drink to put together a proper festival.”

“If they can’t take proper care of themselves, shouldn’t they plead their loyalty to you and accept you as their leader?”

Mitsuki shakes her head smiling, “no, that’s not how things work. They have their own way of living. They may not be warriors, but they have their own abilities. One of those villages is of pot makers, another is of weavers. They should be allowed to live their own way, following their own rules, and not be afraid because of that.”

“Interesting,” Shouto ponders.

The human society is much more complex than he expected. Sure, there’s a big emotional component to the decision-making he just witnessed, but he doesn’t see it as bad. It makes sense that the protection of their kind is an emotional undertaking.

“Yeah, whatever, let’s go. We gotta buy shit,” Bakugou says pushing him away from the Earl.

Shouto lets himself be pushed around by the human for a while, too deep in thought about what means to protect the lifestyle of others and to cherish their uniqueness. The humans seem to have a lot to teach to the dragons, maybe that’s why Izuku feels so drawn to them.

Izuku has always been inquisitive and curious, he must have learned so much during his stay in this settlement. Shouto hopes to learn as much as he can in a much shorter time in order to make his decision about the fate of the humans.

“Where are we going?” The dragon asks after being taken through so many little alleys that he’s completely lost

“Market. I gotta buy food for Deku… and I suppose something for Round Face too,” Bakugou grumbles.

“Can’t they hunt? Izuku has control over his teeth now.”

“They can’t, too big of a risk of they being seen if they go around stealing sheep.”

Shouto prefers not to say that if they are actually seen by some human, it’ll only mean the human will meet his fate a little bit faster than the other humans around. He doesn’t think Bakugou would appreciate the reminder of their impending doom.

“Hey, Bakugou! Good afternoon! Where is Izuku?” A young woman in a small stall filled with flowers ask.

Most of the flowers are cut from their original plants, meaning they will wilt and rot quickly. Shouto gets a little confused about why the woman is guarding the dying plants.

“He’s with one of his friends who came to our village for a visit,” Bakugou grumbles.

“Oh, that’s great! He did mention that he missed his friends and family the last time he came to say hi!” The woman says happily. “I take you are one of his visiting friends?” She asks looking at Shouto. 

“Yes, I’m here to understand your society,” Shouto answers.

“Oh, that’s interesting! If there’s anything I can help you with, don’t be embarrassed to ask,” the woman says with a kind smile.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, Green Thumb, we gotta-” Bakugou tries pushing them away from her, but Shouto stands his ground.

“Actually, why are you guarding these plants?”

“Guarding them? I’m selling them. I offer flowers here in the market.”

“People come for them?” Shouto asks confused. “Why? They taste awful.”

“It’s not for eating, silly!” The woman laughs. “It’s decoration, people get them to make their lives prettier.”

“Oh, like shells,” Shouto nods. “But flowers rot.”

“Then we throw them away and get new ones.” The woman explains shrugging.

“That doesn’t sound very appealing.”

“Maybe for some people it isn’t, but others don’t mind it. They just like how pretty they are while they last.”

“So there’s a personal preference component at play,” Shouto says deep in thought. “Don’t you mind the people who don’t care for your dying plants?”

The woman laughs again, “no, no. It’s alright to like different things. But I’ll tell you what, before you decide you don’t care about them, take this,” she says offering a white flower to the dragon.

Shouto looks at the flower confused, “what- why?”

The woman shrugs with a smile on her face, “just to see how you like it. If you find you like flowers, come back and I’ll give you more.”

“That’s enough shitty flowers, let’s go!” Bakugou pushes him away as Shouto looks dazed at the white flower.

It really is very pretty. Humans trade food and other important goods with her just to have beautiful things around them. And no one tells her she should be trading something more useful, they are happy to support her choice of offering flowers.

“Give me two lambs and one beef,” Bakugou takes Shouto off his musings. “Oh, and a mushroom one too.”

“What are those?” The dragon asks looking at the weirdly shaped items. They smell like food, but they don’t look much like it.

“Oh, have you never had pies, young man?” The old human male in the stall asks confused.

“Nah, he’s from the same village as Izuku. They don’t have much there,” Katsuki explains rolling his eyes.

“We can’t leave this like that! Here, try this!” The old man cuts down a piece of said pies and offers it to Shouto.

The dragon looks at it skeptically. It doesn’t look like any food he’s ever seen, but he can’t deny that the smell is enticing. At first bite, though, all his doubts vanish. This is certainly food. The best food he’s ever tried.

“Ha! I see you like it! Here, have a piece of the chicken one!” The man gives him another piece of pie and Shouto eats it ravenously.

It’s brilliant! Whoever said humans don’t have magic certainly never tried pies before.

And there are so many flavors! Shouto tries lamb, chicken, mushroom, beef. The old man talks at length about seasonings and crusts, and Shouto tries to absorb every bit of information to take it back to the archipelago.

“So, the flour must be milled… How do you mill it?”

“I buy from the millers, just like I buy the butter from Granny Tanaka and my dried herbs come from a wandering caravan that comes around from time to time. It takes a whole village to make a good pie!”

“And who gathers the mushrooms?”

“GODDAMMIT! ENOUGH WITH THE DAMN QUESTIONS, LET’S GO!” Bakugou yells pushing him away again. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Damn, I thought the damn nerd was bad but you’re even worse!”

“I need to ask questions, Bakugou. I need to understand the situation clearly before making my decision about the fate of this settlement,” Shouto explains.

“Oh, and who gathers the shitty shrooms is gonna make a difference in your decision?!” Bakugou stops pushing him to face the dragon.

“It may. I don’t know. I need all the information I can get to make a fair and appropriate judgment.”

“Ain’t you the fucking Elder? Don’t you rule over those other idiots?”

“Yes, I do.”

“THEN DO WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT! You don’t need to explain yourself! You don’t need to have a  _ reasoning,  _ all you need to do is grow some balls and say what you want to do!” Katsuki yells exasperated.

Shouto rolls his eyes, “no wonder your mother thinks you’re a bad princess.”

“WHAT-! YOU-! ARGH!” Katsuki yells pulling on his hair as he steps away from Shouto. The human takes a couple of deep breaths before coming back to face the dragon with really intense eyes. “You know what? You may be a wishy-washy coward about this, but I’m not. I’m not going to let you hurt my people or my friends. You come to raze my village, I’ll personally hunt you down. You threaten Deku, I’ll destroy you and every other fucker who gets in my way. You understand?”

“You think Izuku is one of your own,” Shouto says unbothered.

“I don’t think, I know. Deku will be by my side for as long as he wants, and anyone who tries to force him to do anything he doesn't want to will have to face me.”

Bakugou turns around and leaves after that, his hands shaking in barely constrained rage. 

Humans are quite unique beings and they have a very interesting society.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we know about Shouto's struggles...  
> And yeah, no matter the AU, he and his mother need a tragic backstory. Sorry, I don't make the rules.
> 
> Next chapter is the last in this 'four new dragons POV' arch! We'll find out what Izuku and Ochako have been up to so far!  
> I hope you all enjoyed it!


	23. How to talk to your friend

**How to talk to your friend**

As soon as the other dragons and Vikings left the woods, Ochako turned back into her dragon form.

"Ochako! No! It's dangerous! Someone might see you!" Izuku pleads and his friend just looks at him like she's thinking to him but he can't hear because he's in his human form. "Ochako!" 

Izuku whines but the pink and silver dragon just gives her back to him and trails back deeper into the woods.

"Can you stop? We can't wander off!"

Ochako doesn't even look back. Izuku shakes his head annoyed and runs to stand in front of her.

"STOP!" He yells and then completes with a sad face, "talk to me."

She turns her head away with a hurt expression.

"I can't believe you're being like that!" He complains. "I should be the one who is angry!"

That makes Ochako turn her head back to him and glare. Izuku may not be able to hear her thoughts, but the feeling behind them was pretty clear.

“Yeah, I should! You shouldn’t have come, Ochako! I’d go back once I was ready! Mina and I had everything under control!” Izuku yells at her and the dragon pushes her head on his chest making Izuku fall on the floor.

“Hey!”

Ochako passes over him and trots away. Finally having enough of this one-sided conversation, Izuku turns into a dragon and follows her. Ochako’s thoughts are louder than Kacchan talking to his mother.

“ —BE SO STUPID! MAKING FRIENDS WITH HUMANS! FLYING AWAY! MAKING US WORRY! I SHOULD KNOT YOUR TAIL TO A TREE  TO MAKE YOU STAY PUT BACK AT THE ISLAND!”

Angry and frustrated, Izuku rushes after his friend and bites her tail like he always did playfully, but this time he has his teeth out. His fangs sink into the pink dragon's tail and he pulls her back.

“OUCH!” Ochako cries and turns to face him snarling. Izuku growls back showing his teeth and the pink dragon is instantly taken back. She sits down on her hind legs and looks curiously to Izuku. “You really got your teeth.”

“Yeah,” Izuku sits down in front of her, “and you saw that I can use my quirk now.”

Ochako glares, “with the human on your back controlling you.”

“Kacchan doesn’t control me,” Izuku protests. “He helps me a lot. And I can control my quirk with or without him riding me. We were just playing around.”

The pink and silver dragon tilts her small head analyzing Izuku before thinking, “you care a lot about him.”

“I do,” Izuku agrees, “and he cares about me.”

“Can humans care about anything?” Ochako snickers.

“They care a lot about a lot of things, Ochako.” Izuku reprimands her. “They’d care about you too if you just let them. Actually, they probably already care about you just because they know I care about you.”

“As if,” Ochako turns her head, pain clear in her thoughts. “If you cared, you wouldn’t have hidden things from me.”

“I-...” His friend’s pain makes Izuku feel hurt too. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about hiding things from you. I just thought about protecting this new part of my life, and I didn’t want to put you in the position to lie to the Elders.”

“And you should have known I care about you more than I care about the Elder’s ruling! You’ve been my best friend since we hatched, Izuku! I’m always going to pick your side!” Ochako cries, and Izuku feels the urge to close the distance between them and scent his friend.

“You are right, I’m sorry,” Izuku says softly rubbing his neck against Ochako’s. “I should have told you. Now I’ve involved so many more dragons in my mess and I don’t know how to fix it.”

It doesn’t take long before Ochako is thoroughly scenting Izuku as well. Her strong emotions of love, care, worry, and pain come in waves without any coherent thought attached. Feeling safe with his friend, Izuku starts leaking his feelings as well —  fear, anxiety, happiness, love.

They both are a mess of emotions, but they can understand each other. Izuku understands that Ochako was hurt by his actions, but that she stills has Izuku in her heart as her best friend and that she was deeply worried about him. And Ochako understands that Izuku has a special bond with the humans and that he’s very fearful of bad things happening to the humans and the dragons.

The pink and silver dragon forcefully touches Izuku’s head with her own and closes her eyes.

“It’s going to be alright. I’m here now and I’ll make sure things work out. I won’t let Shouto or Tenya hurt your humans. I’ll fight all the Elders if I have to. Their rulings are outdated anyway, the whispers that humans aren’t so bad as we were told run through the archipelago. I’m sure lots of dragons will be excited to find out humans can love us as the screaming boy loves you.”

“Thanks, Ochako,” Izuku answers. “I didn’t want to make such a mess.”

“Feelings are messy,” she says matter-of-factly. “But running away from them never did the dragons any good. How many of us were hurt by that? You showing your heart in every thought is what always inspired me, Izuku.”

They lay on the dead leaves of the wood’s ground snaked around each other. Ochako’s dragon body is bigger than Izuku's, and she snuggles him lovingly.

“Now tell me about what you’ve been doing,” she asks.

Izuku looks mischievously to her and thinks quietly, “I’ve been reading books.”

“IZUKU!” Ochako exclaims, eyes going huge with surprise. She looks around, checking to be sure there’s no one around them before thinking quietly too. “What books?”

***

Izuku and Ochako spend hours laying together and trading stories about the time Izuku has been with the humans. The pink and silver dragon learns everything about Kacchan and the other Vikings. She’s excited to know more about the market, know the people, taste the honey bread. 

And the green dragon got updates on how his mother is faring, how they tricked the Elders to slip away and look for Izuku, which other dragons know Izuku is ‘missing’. Izuku feels guilty about making his mother worry so much, but he knows she’d understand if she saw how happy and strong he is.

He has never felt stronger in his whole life. Izuku feels like if the Elders actually come for the village, he could fight them off and protect everyone. Maybe it’s a silly thought, objectively he knows he isn’t one of the stronger dragons; but his heart feels like he can tackle anything right now. He has his friends by his side, he has Kacchan and he controls his powers — Izuku can face the whole world like this.

“IF YOU DO THAT AGAIN, I’M GONNA KILL YOU AND TRANSFORM YOU IN A DAMN HANDBAG. THEN I’M GOING TO GIVE THE HANDBAG TO THE WEIRD LADY THAT HAS TOO MANY CATS SO SHE CAN USE YOU TO CARRY HER CATS AROUND TOWN AND THE CATS ARE GOING TO PISS IN YOU!” 

Kacchan’s boisterous voice is heard through the woods taking Izuku and Ochako out of their little bubble. Izuku jumps instantly after hearing Katsuki’s voice and runs towards the Viking, the other dragon follows closely behind.

Forgetting he should transform into a human to talk to Kacchan, Izuku starts thinking while trotting towards the Viking.

‘Kacchan! What are you doing here? Did you leave Shouto behind? Oh, no, there he is! Hi, Shouto! Did you guys have fun? What did-’

“Deku!” Kacchan barks at him when he sees the green dragon. “Where the fuck were you? We left you way nearer the border!”

Izuku bumps his head on the Viking's chest, ‘I’m sorry, Kacchan. We thought it’d be better to hide deeper into the woods.’

“You’re right, being further from the village is safer if you’re all going to stay in this form,” Kacchan answers as if he had heard Izuku’s thought perfectly. “Did Round Face there give you trouble?”

Katsuki looks at Ochako skeptically but Izuku shakes his head.

“Good, because this one is an asshole,” Kacchan says indicating Shouto with his head. 

Izuku gives him a judging look and thinks, ‘please don’t tell me you’re antagonizing with the dragon who can decide if the humans live or die, Kacchan’.

“He is! It’s not my fault!” Kacchan argues, “Anyway, I brought food. But you all better be my size again or else it won’t be enough to fill your huge bellies.”

‘HEY! We don’t have huge bellies!’ Ochako protests.

Izuku just rolls his eyes and transforms back into human.

“What did you bring, Kacchan?” He asks excitedly.

Ochako turns back into her human form and they all sit down around Katsuki’s bag, from where the Viking starts taking food out.

“There are pies, bread, some salted meat, apples,” Bakugou grunts each item he takes off the bag.

“You brought so much! Thanks, Kacchan!” Izuku smiles at him and Katsuki gives him a tiny half-smile back.

“I’ve discovered that I like pies, I want to make them back in the archipelago,” Shouto tells the other dragons.

“They’re certainly good, but not easy at all. Have learned how to make them, Shouto?” Izuku asks furrowing his eyebrows.

“Whut aee pies?” Ochako asks fighting with her tongue.

Katsuki shoves a piece of chicken pie on her face, “a Round Face like you should be eating them by the dozen.”

Ochako tries to snarl at him but fail as her mouth is too full, Katsuki smiles teasingly.

“It seems like a very complicated process, but that can be facilitated with the right elements. The piemaker was open to debate his process and to introduce me to his suppliers. I believe the addition of pies to draconian nutrition would improve greatly our society as a whole.”

Izuku nods in agreement and asks, “I see… Have you tried the honey bread?”

“I haven’t yet, but we brought some. I tried the magic fish, though,” Shouto says deadpanned.

“Magii fush?”

“Yes, it’s a fish that isn’t a fish. The most unexpected thing, but quite delicious.”

Izuku looks at Katsuki confused and the Viking just shakes his head, “It’s nothing like that, I can show you later. Just eat.”

During their early dinner, Shouto and Izuku exchange impressions about the human food and Ochako tried everything amazed. Katsuki put up with their rambling for quite a while before declaring they have no idea what real food is like and that they need to try his mother’s spicy stew before deciding which recipes they will try to replicate back in the archipelago (though he didn’t say with such nice words).

After eating, Ochako needed to turn back into a dragon. It’s still very hard for her to keep the human form. Shouto also decided to take a break from his magic and shift back, leaving Izuku and Katsuki talking on their own while the dragons walked around to spread their legs and wings.

Izuku scooches over to sit closer to Katsuki.

“Hey,” the Viking greets him softly as if they’re just meeting each other.

“Hey. Thanks for not killing Shouto,” Izuku says.

Katsuki chuckles and shakes his head, “yeah, and the fucker tried me several times. Talking shit about destroying the village.”

“I’m not going to let that happen,” Izuku says seriously.

“We’re not going to let that happen,” Katsuki says just as seriously looking inside Izuku’s eyes. “We’re a fucking team, aren’t we?”

Izuku smiles to the human, “yes, we are. We aren’t going to let anything bad happen to our friends.”

Bakugou nudges Izuku’s arm with his shoulder, “that’s the fucking spirit!”

“Do you know how the others are doing?” 

“I saw Glasses dragging Kirishima up and down talking about lustering scales. Sero was still freaking out, so Mina was taking him to play with the baby sheep to see if something cute would calm him down.” Katsuki says rolling his eyes.

“And Kaminari and Hitoshi?”

“I just saw them walking around the village talking,” Kacchan shrugs. “Everyone is fine. You’re the one I’m worried about, are you going to sleep here in the woods? The sun is already going down, it’s gonna be dark as fuck.”

Izuku smiles, “I’m a dragon, Kacchan. I can see in the dark better than humans. Ochako and I will be alright, you can take Todoroki back to your home.”

Katsuki huffs, “I don’t want to take shitty Half n’ Half to our bedroom. He’s too big, if he shifts back, he’ll break the damn roof.”

“You mean break even more of the roof?” Izuku teases.

“I mean break enough that the old hag won’t be able to ignore there’s a freaking dragon sleeping in the attic,” Katsuki says dead-panned.

“BRO! IZUKU? ARE YOU THERE?” Kirishima’s voice sounds through the woods.

“We’re here!” Izuku answers, getting up to look for his friend.

“Don’t fucking yell, Shitty Hair.”

“MY DEAR FRIENDS, WE’VE RETURNED TO DEBATE OUR SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS,” Tenya’s voice reaches them.

“And we brought marshmallows!” Kaminari yells after him.

Soon enough they are surrounded by every one of their friends — Kirishima, Tenya, Kaminari, Hitoshi, Mina, and Sero. Ochako and Shouto came back to them when they hear the commotion.

“The fuck y’all doing here?” Katsuki says crossing his arms.

“Well, bro, it’d be weird to show up with more people in our places,” Kirishima starts explaining.

“And we also wanted to know how everyone is faring,” Tenya continues.

“That’s why we decided to do a camp night all together!” Kaminari finishes excitedly. “We brought everything we need! Marshmallows and ghost stories!”

“And tents, we brought the tents, sleeping bags and things to start a fire,” Kirishima completes.

“And Sero threw up about five times already, his mother said she doesn't want him inside the house,” Mina says patting the boy on the back. 

Sero does look quite sick, his face has taken a green hue.

“What happened to him? He wasn’t that bad before.” Izuku asks furrowing his eyebrows in worry.

“We went to see the baby sheep… and then he remembered dragons eat sheep and freaked out again,” Mina explains apologetically.

Katsuki huffs, takes a few big steps towards Sero and slaps the other boy on the back of his head harshly.

“STOP BEING A FUCKING MORON, WE EAT SHEEP TOO, ASSHAT!”

The dark-haired boy looks appalled to Bakugou and then his face morphs into several different emotions — disbelief, sadness, anger, nausea… And he turns to throw up again.

“Kacchan! He’s in shock!” Izuku berates him.

“Yeah, dude! Not cool! Even worse since we haven’t discovered if the sheep are magic yet!” Kaminari says angrily crossing his arms.

“It’s alright, dear. Better out than in,” Mina pats Sero’s back with concern.

“So, we can’t eat sheep?” Hitoshi asks.

“Pies! Djis pies of sheep!” Ochako says to Hitoshi offering the rest of their dinner.

“EVERYONE, SILENCE! THE HUMAN IS TRYING TO TALK!” Tenya says noticing Sero’s week attempts of drawing everyone’s attention.

“Thank, dud- dragon? Dragon-dude?” Sero says confused to Tenya, then turns to the group and announces solemnly: “I’m becoming a vegetarian.”

At Sero’s word, they all start yelling at each other. Everyone talks at the same time giving their opinions on the matter.

“THAT’S SO MANLY, BRO!”

“Can I get your portion of meat on the village’s feasts?”

“YOU DAMN IDIOT! NOW IT’S NOT-”

“I support you, Sero! We can go gather mushrooms together!”

“Sinz wen yu know how to gathr ‘shrooms? Lass time, yu gaiv us tumm ackes!”

“YOU DAMN IDIOTS, NEITHER OF YOU CAN TELL APART ROSES FROM CABBAGES! HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO PICK MUSHROOMS?!”

“I think if it’s going to make him feel better, it’s alright. I can get him some fish. Fish doesn’t count, right?”

“I’m afraid fish must count as animals, Mina. Tsuyu would feel very hurt if you brought that enquire to her.”

“Not the pretty ones, I mean! Just, you know, the silver ones that are everywhere.”

“I cun fish! I’mm a grit fixer! I cun feed the green hooman!”

“I’ve come to my decision,” Shouto says quietly but making everyone shut up instantly. The crickets could be heard in the woods since no dragon or human dared to even breath.

“Regarding the issue about the dragon Izuku revealing the dragon’s magic for the human princess Katsuki and his companions, putting at risk our society’s way of living and the sacred pact of secrecy upheld by The Elders.”

Shouto starts talking and Izuku feels dread in the pit of his stomach. It’s too soon! Izuku hasn’t had the chance to show his dragon friends the great things about being friends with humans!

“After spending a whole day talking to the human leaders and advisors I, Shouto, son of Endeavor, youngest Elder of the Archipelago have decided that the dragons Izuku, Mina, Hitoshi, Tenya and myself will participate in the human’s festival that will take place here in this village in ten days.”

“WHAT?” Kacchan yells, everybody else is stunned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm back! And we're back to seeing Kacchan and Deku interacting!  
> I know this wasn't one of the funniest chapters, but I hope it made you chuckle at least a little!
> 
> Also, I posted the 1k kudo celebration thread of this fic here on AO3! You can check out [**Goat's Night** here!!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20379559)  
> It's just a little snippet of our dear Vikings lives before they met the dragons.


	24. How to deal with a secret

**How to deal with a secret**

Bakugou Katsuki slowly comes to conscience. He fights against awakeness trying to hold on to every second of sleep he can, but it’s to no good. The pain going through his whole body doesn’t let him go back to the dream realm. 

Not even the comfortable weight of Deku’s dragon head on his chest distracts Katsuki from the ache in his muscles. Sleeping on the forest floor on their impromptu camping trip with the other dragons was hard on his back. And, if that wasn’t enough, as soon as they sent the extra dragons back to their island and went back to the village, his mother put them to work in the festival preparation.

Working around the village under his mother’s watch is harder on the body than training to be a warrior. The old hag is a tyrant, she didn’t even give Katsuki and the others a second to breathe the whole damn day. When they finished hammering wooden stalls they had to run to start digging holes for pickets or other shit like that.

And today isn’t going to be any better. There’s still so much work to get done around the village. Katsuki moves his arm, testing the pain level of it and is pleasantly surprised to see it could be worse. He drops his hand on Deku’s head and lets his fingers run through the smooth scales.

The sun is already peeking through the hole in the roof, soon his mother would start yelling for them to come down to work. No matter how much Bakugou wants to stay in bed with Deku, they have to get ready.

“Hey, lizard, wake up.”

The dragon stirs and nuzzles against Bakugou’s chest and the Viking can’t help the smile on his lips. Silly overgrown gecko, at least Deku didn’t drool on him tonight.

“Deku, come on,” Katsuki pokes him in the cheeks. “We gotta get up before the old hag comes to check on us.”

Izuku sleepily blinks his huge green eyes and yawns widely right in Katsuki’s face.

“That’s it, now you’re just asking for a morning ass whopping!” The Viking barks while pushing Izuku off his chest.

Bakugou rolls off the bed and stretches a little, feeling his muscles complain and his joints pop. He should have stretched before going to sleep, now he’ll be stiff the whole day.

“Damn hag worked us like mules yesterday,” he grumbles picking up some less stinky clothes to change into. “I don’t even think we need so many stalls! The new merchants will probably come with their own wagons or shit like that. And we’ll have to dismantle the stalls when the damn festival is over!”

He pulls the shirt over his head and keeps complaining to Deku, “I bet you that today she’ll make us fix the fencing around the sheep enclosures. She’s been complaining about this shit for ages and will probably just take the chance to force us into doing it. And there’s nothing wrong with the damn fence! If it keeps the sheep in place it’s good enough, right Deku?”

Katsuki turns to Izuku to get some validation over his protests, but the words die on his mouth when he sees the dragon. Deku shifted into his human form. But he’s in the wrong human form — Deku is in a girl’s body. His face is rounder, his arms slimmer, and his boobs are undeniable under the loose white shirt he usually wears.

“I think the whole concept of fencing the sheep against their will is really problematic, Kacchan,” Izuku argues sleepily.

“Deku! The fuck is wrong with you?!” Katsuki yells in disbelief.

“Hm? There’s nothing wrong with me,” the dragon answer tilting his head in confusion.

“What the fuck?! Look at you! You’re a girl!” Katsuki points at Deku’s chest area.

Izuku looks at his own body analytically, “yeah, but I don’t see anything wrong? I’m completely human.”

“Deku! Focus! You’re a girl! You’re always a boy but now you’re a girl!” What the fuck?! How the stupid lizard can’t realize the issue with that?!

“Yeah, I noticed that,” Izuku says matter-of-factly. “My brain just feels like taking this form today.”

“What?! Why?!” Katsuki asks confused.

“I don’t really know…” Izuku says thoughtfully. “I suppose last night I was thinking about how strong I’ve been feeling. I’ve mastered my quirk, I stood up against my friends, I’ve been helping around the village and feeling useful. I’m feeling really strong, so I guess my body took a form it thinks is more powerful.”

“What the hell?! Since when girls are more powerful?” This makes less sense by the second, Katsuki is pretty close to banging his head against the wall.

“Most women I know are really powerful and strong. Like Mina, Ochako, your mom, my mom…” Izuku counts the women he knows in his fingers.

“BRAT! IZUKU! COME DOWN FOR BREAKFAST! YOU HAVE WORK WAITING FOR YOU TWO!” Mitsuki’s voice comes thundering from downstairs.

“Shit! Deku! Quick! Shift into the right form and let’s go!” Bakugou says finishing putting on his boots.

“I can’t,” Izuku says calmly. “My brain wants to be in this form today, if I force the other form I won’t be able to keep the human shift for long.”

“WHAT?!” Katsuki yells. “Now it’s not the time to play, Deku! If we don’t hurry, mom is coming up! She can’t see you like that!”

“Why?”

“Why? Because humans don’t change the shape of their bodies overnight! Everyone will realize something is weird!” Why does he even have to explain that to Deku at this point? The dragon has been on the village long enough to know that!

“I SWEAR, BRAT, I’M COMING UP AND I’M GOING TO DRAG YOU BY THE EAR!” Mitsuki yells.

“Fuck!” He needs to fix it, he needs to hide the changes in Deku’s body or else everyone will find out and they might hurt the idiot lizard.

Bakugou starts pulling clothes out of the chest on the corner of his room. He needs to find something that hides Deku’s boobs, that’s the most telling characteristic. Luckily the damn lizard didn’t grow his hair out overnight or some bullshit like that.

Finally, he found what he was looking for, a leather vest his father made him. It’s similar to the one his mother uses, but it’s been too small for Katsuki for a while. With any luck, it’ll fit Deku’s smaller frame.

He rushes over to tie the vest on Izuku, it fits like a glove. Bakugou feels a little warm on his chest seeing Deku wearing one of his most precious pieces of clothing, but he doesn’t have time to dwell on the feeling.

“Alright, this will make do for now. Let’s go before the old hag kills us,” he says pulling Deku by the hand to the kitchen. 

There are bread, apples and cheese waiting for them, and they start eating ravenously because they know they’ll need the energy for the workday. Katsuki also needs to carefully pick what they’ll do to not let anyone find out of the changes on Deku’s body.

The vest helps, but if anyone looks at Deku too closely, they’ll see something is amiss. Bakugou will need to keep them moving the whole day, working in things away from the others. They won’t be able to work in the middle of the village. Actually, it’s better to stay away from their friends too — they may know about the dragon thing but they’re too stupid to not draw attention to it.

“What do we need to do today, old hag?” Katsuki asks his mother.

“Now that’s a miracle, brat! You’re actually interested in working!” Mitsuki teases. “There are still stalls to assemble, we need to put together a new barn for the horses that’ll arrive during the festival, we need to fix the training field for the games, and weed out the field where people are setting their tents.”

“We’ll take the training field,” Bakugou says quickly. It’s a lot of work, but that way they’ll be away from the village’s center.

Mitsuki looks at him warily, “you gotta work properly, brat. That means fixing the holes you all do while training, painting the weapon shack, assembling stands and benches for people to watch the games.”

Bakugou rolls his eyes, “I said I’ll fucking do it.”

The woman doesn’t seem completely sold on the idea, but before she can make any more remarks, Katsuki starts shoving food on a pouch to take for their lunch. He barely looks at what he’s taking, he just knows he needs to get out of the house before his mother’s suspicion increases.

“Let’s go, Deku! We can’t be late! We have work to do!” 

“Kachwan, ’m eting!” Izuku says with a mouth full of bread, but Katsuki doesn’t care.

He grabs Izuku by the hand and pulls the dragon away while Deku is still chewing on a piece of bread and is holding an apple. Deku doesn’t put up a fight for most of the way, but when they get to the market, things get more complicated.

“Good morning, Izuku!” Ibara says cheerfully as she sets her flowers on the stall. “Are you working around here today?”

“Morning, Ibara!” Deku answers just as merrily and stops following Bakugou making the Viking almost stumble and fall at the sudden pull on the hand. “Kacchan and I are going to work on the training grounds today!”

“Oh, what are you guys doing there?”

“Fixing shit up!” Bakugou answers, interrupting their useless chatter. “Let’s go, Deku!”

He tugs harshly on Izuku’s hand to get the dragon moving. Izuku stumbles a few steps before complaining.

“Kacchan! Calm down! The field will be there waiting when we get there,” Deku grumbles. “We should say good morning to Kirishima, Mina and the others, and explain where are we going.”

“No time, we have to go!” Bakugou says without looking back.

“Morning Izuku! Bakugou!” Sato calls them from the baker’s shop. “I just pulled some sweetbreads off the oven, would you guys like some?”

“Yes!”

“No!” Katsuki barks and Izuku looks angry at him. “We need to go, Deku!”

“Sato is being nice and offering us treats, Kacchan! We can’t be rude!” Izuku argues before pulling the hand free and following the baker to get the sweetbread.

“Fucking-!” Katsuki curses and runs after Deku.

It’s a goddamn nightmare to get the dragon away from people. Izuku has so many fucking friends! It’s maddening! Katsuki has to yell and bark at several people who spend too long talking to Deku, some fuckers even dare to try to hug the dragon! And everybody disregards Bakugou’s complaints!

When they manage to get away from the market they run into Kirishima and Mina. Katsuki doesn’t even try explaining, he just yells to their friends to leave Izuku and him alone and keeps trying to drag Deku to the training field. Bakugou is furious and anxious, he’s so fucking tired of all these people hogging Izuku!

“GET AWAY FROM US, WE’RE FUCKING BUSY!” Katsuki yells at Kirishima and Mina.

The two just look dumbfounded at the blond dragging Izuku away.

“Everything alright?” Kirishima asks worried.

“Everything is fine, Kirishima! We’ll be working on the training field!” Izuku yells back to them already far away with Bakugou pulling him by the hand.

Katsuki doesn’t care what Kirishima and Mina think. All he wants is to be alone with Deku without all these useless extras getting in the way. It’s his goddamn dragon! Bakugou is so fucking done with sharing Deku all the time! 

And it’s not only today! The last few days have been a fucking nightmare! Katsuki had to spend a whole fucking day with shitty Shouto and that fucker is unbearable! Talking shit about destroying their village and taking Deku away! And damn Round Face! She was a fucking brat and refused to be away from Izuku, completely throwing Bakugou to the curb! During camp, she even demanded to sleep with Deku!

Yesterday wasn’t fucking better either. The dragons might have been away, but the whole goddamn village kept stealing Deku’s attention the whole damn day! No one lets Katsuki and Deku be in peace, ever! Bakugou misses the days it was just him and Izuku alone on an island without any assholes to bother them. They have shit to do and this whole girl-stuff to figure out, they can’t keep wasting time on other people!

When they get to the training ground, the first thing Katsuki does is start picking up trash from around the field. There are broken pieces of wood everywhere.

“Let’s clean the space first,” he grunts to Izuku and the dragon begins picking up the stray pieces of wood too.

They clean the whole field in silence, Katsuki still simmering in anger. The sun is already high in the sky and they haven’t made much progress in getting the training ground ready, so they just focus on their job. Only when the entire space and its borders are clear of any litter, is that Izuku tries talking to Katsuki again.

“Your mom said we’d need to build stands, do you think this wood will be enough?” 

“No, we’ll need much more to make benches and stands for everyone,” Bakugou answers absent-mindedly fixing the pile of old wood. “And this wood will only be good for kindling now, it’s too old.”

“And what we’ll do right now?”

Katsuki shrugs, “don’t know. Maybe clean the weapons’ shack and fix that?”

“Alright,” Izuku says deep in thought. “We’ll probably need wood too, tools and paint to fix the shack.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki says looking at the depressing state of the shack. “Should have picked some rags and water too, shit is nasty.”

“I can do that!” Izuku volunteers eagerly. “I can run back to the village and pick the stuff we need!”

Izuku? Going back to the village? To be hogged by those fuckers that will never let the dragon come back?

“Hell to the no! You stay fucking here! You aren’t allowed to go back to the village!” Katsuki barks furious.

“Kacchan, we need supplies,” Izuku says furrowing his eyebrows.

“We don’t need shit!” Katsuki argues back. “We can just do whatever we can around here!”

“Kacchan, we haven’t brought anything we need!”

“I DON’T CARE! YOU AREN’T GOING BACK THERE, DEKU!” Bakugou yells furiously to the dragon.

Izuku looks at him with hurt on his eyes, “do you hate this new me that much?”

“What?” Katsuki asks angrily taken aback.

“I can just go back to the archipelago,” Izuku says with tears threatening to spill through the beautiful eyes before turning around ready to leave.

“NO!” Katsuki drops the wood he still had on his arms and runs quickly to stand in Deku’s way. “What the fuck do you mean ‘you’re leaving’?”

“I’m not sticking around with you if don’t want me here, Kacchan,” Izuku says harshly cleaning the tears.

“Who said this bullshit?! Of course I want you here!” Katsuki says putting his hands on Izuku’s shoulders.

“But you’ve been yelling at me the whole day!” Izuku whines. “And you’re ashamed of my new form!”

“I-!” Katsuki starts screaming but takes a deep breath before continuing. He really did scream a lot at Deku today. “Yeah, I’ve been really shitty today. But I’m not ashamed of shit, Deku. I’m just worried about other people finding out you’re a dragon or about the magic stuff. They could hurt you and I can’t let that happen.”

Izuku raises his eyes still filled with tears to Katsuki, “I thought you hated me in this form.”

“Hate you? I could never hate you. I don’t give a shit about which shape you take. Boy, girl, or dragon — you’re always Deku.” Katsuki says caressing Izuku’s cheek with his dirty hands. He tries to brush away one tear just to smudge Deku with mud. “And I love you.”

Bakugou has about two seconds of seeing Izuku’s face morph into a huge smile before the dragon tackles him in a strong hug that almost takes Katsuki’s feet off the ground.

“I love you too, Kacchan,” Deku’s voice comes muffled from his chest.

“Don’t say you’re leaving me ever again,” Bakugou says against the dragon’s hair. “If you want to go away, I’ll go with you.”

“I’m never leaving you, Kacchan,” Izuku says to Katsuki with a beautiful smile as their eyes meet.

Bakugou can’t resist the urge and lowers his lips to Izuku’s forehead in a soft kiss.

“BAKUGOU! IZUKU!” Kaminari's yell startles them and they jump away from each other.

Katsuki’s face is as red as a tomato, Izuku had the brightest grin ever. Bakugou has half the mind to yell at Dunce Face before the idiot could make any remark, but Kaminari looks too worried and he bites back his tongue.

“You two need to come quickly! Aizawa is calling for you!” 

Shit, Aizawa is bad news. He’s the most annoying and the smartest man in the village. Bakugou has kept Izuku away from his mentor until this point for a good reason — if anyone can find out of the dragon’s secret it’s Aizawa.

“Deku, go back home. I’ll meet you there as soon as I’m done with Aizawa,” Katsuki says to the dragon.

“No, dude,” Kaminari interrupts him. “Aizawa said he wants every one of us, Mina and Izuku included. Sero went to get Kirishima and Mina. We need to go now.”

***

Katsuki feels like he’s walking to his judgment as they approach Aizawa’s cabin. Kirishima, Mina and Sero are already waiting near the entrance, all of them with similar wary faces. Their greetings are quiet and reserved, the air is tense around them.

Sero, Kaminari, Bakugou and Kirishima trade worried looks, none of them feeling brave enough to knock on the man’s door. How could Aizawa have found out? 

Maybe the question is, how could he have not found out? They’ve been so sloppy in keeping this secret. They’ve paraded around the village with three extra people that no one had ever seen, who looked weird and who came from a place no one knows where it is but that doesn’t have bread. And the dragons kept their lizardly form in the woods behind Aizawa’s cabin. 

They’ve been careless and now they’ll pay for it. Bakugou considers them lucky that Aizawa asked to talk to them instead of going straight to his mother; maybe they can convince the old man that dragons can be friends. Katsuki rapidly runs through his head every argument he can think of to bring Aizawa to their side, trying to be ready for his mentor, but when the door of the cottage opens all he has is the feeling of impending doom.

“Oh, there you are! Shouta was waiting for you!” Hisashi says smiling to the terrified group, then turns inside the house and yells. “Shouta! The kids are here!”

Aizawa comes grumbling from the depth of the cabin. “There you are. Follow me.”

He passes through everyone and keeps walking away from his cottage without looking back to check if he’s being followed. 

“Do you think he knows?” Kirishima whispers way too loudly.

“He can’t know! I didn’t know!” Sero argues also louder than he should.

“Knows what?” Kaminari asks confused without any pretension of keeping quiet.

“Shut up all of you!” Bakugou barks at them. He doesn’t need his friends’ idiocy making the situation worse than it already is.

However, their mentor doesn’t seem to acknowledge their concerns. He keeps walking until they reach the fences of one of the sheep enclosures. The man stops solemnly looking at the field, then turns to the group that waits for him with bated breath.

“I know you’ve been preparing this for a while. But we can’t have you failing the village now. This is too important to depend on your shenanigans.” He says seriously before indicating the field behind him with his head. “Here is where you’ll do your serious preparations.” 

Bakugou frowns. Is this some kind of code? Some trick? What is Aizawa up to? Katsuki isn’t sure what’s happening but he’s scared to find out, so he bites his tongue and waits. Best to keep his chance of denying anything he can be accused of.

“Prepare for what?” Kaminari asks confused. Clearly, the idiot doesn’t need to pretend for plausible deniability.

Aizawa rolls his eyes, “what else? The sheep herding competition. You all have been training for it, so we decided to put it on the schedule of the games for the festival. We need at least one game we’ll be sure to win, so you all better start preparing for it.”

On the distance, a sheep goes “baaah!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I officially gave what you all were asking for in this one chapter!  
> I hope you are satisfied with it xD


	25. How to herd sheep

**How to herd sheep**

“So, how do you kids do it?” Aizawa asks the group looking stunned at the sheep in the vast green field.

“Do what?” Kirishima is the spokesperson for the confused teens.

“Herd the sheep, obviously,” the older man scowls. “I mean, how do you make the points, keep score, win the competition?”

So this is how their lies catch up to them — not by the adults finding out there are dragons living among them in their village; but by them finding out none of the young Vikings has a clue of how a sheep herding competition would even work. 

Katsuki can’t let that happen. He needs to come up with something to tell Aizawa fast, really fast. Faster than any of his friends can because if these idiots decide to open their damn big mouths, this shit can quickly go from bad to worse.

“Oh! It’s easy! Pretty easy! The easiest!” Kirishima says with an awkward laugh.

Too late.

“Yeah, very easy! We just, you know, woosh with the sheep!” Mina says smiling while doing the motion of flappy wings with her arms.

“NO, WE DON’T!” Sero yells. “We’ve talked about it, Mina! No whooshing with the sheep!”

“No! No the ahn- murderous kind of whoosh, Sero!” Izuku explains quickly. “Just the usual, fun kind!”

“Whoosh?” Aizawa asks cocking an eyebrow skeptically.

“Yeah! Whoosh! We make the sheep go so fast it looks they are whooshing!” Kirishima says loudly trying to drown out the sound of the other idiocies being spouted around.

“So speed is a possible score. What else?” Aizawa writes down on a little notebook.

Come on, Katsuki! This competition will be used to express the power of their village to their allies and enemies! It’s a big fucking deal, it may be what stops their people from being attacked by other Vikings. He needs to create a sheep herding competition that establishes them as strong and relentless warriors to make sure no one dares to challenge them.

“We need to make the sheep march as an army,” Katsuki says with certainty and doesn’t understand why everyone looks at him as if he had just lost his mind. “Make them show strength and discipline as if they’re ready for war!”

“Hum” Aizawa ponders for a second as the other teens look at Katsuki bewildered. “Makes sense. So you make the sheep walk as a herd through a specific path as fast and as organized possibly and stop at marked spots?”

“Yeah!”

“Totally!”

“That’s exactly what Bakubro was saying!”

“Absolutely!”

“No, actually I was-” Katsuki tries correcting Aizawa but Deku’s soft hand slaps him in the mouth before he manages to finish his sentence.

“That’s right, Mister Aizawa! That’s how we’ve been training for the competition!” Izuku says with his winning smile.

“Alright, I’ll pass this information for the festival organization people and leave you to train some more for the competition,” Aizawa says, putting his notebook back in his pocket. “ _ Unfortunately _ , I don’t know the first thing about sheep herding so, for reasons clearly beyond my control, the only game you guys will have to train is the one I can’t train you. Oh well, do your best, kids. I’ll be in my home sleep- I mean, helping to prepare the rest of the festival.”

Their mentor walks away, leaving the group of teens still stunned in confusion. Great, now they need to learn how to herd sheep, create proper competition guidelines and find a way to win the competition to not let their enemies think they are weak.

Bakugou rubs his forehead in stress trying to ignore Kirishima jumping over the fence to talk to the sheep, Sero running after him saying sheep have rights and shouldn’t be bothered and Kaminari following the two of them arguing they need to find out if the sheep are magic too. Katsuki  **_is this close_ ** to mounting Deku and flying away from this damn madhouse.

“I’m gonna make sure they don’t hurt themselves,” Mina says jumping the fence after the boys.

“It’s gonna be alright, Kacchan,” Deku holds his hand, taking Katsuki out of his thoughts. The Viking squeezes the dragon’s small hand to get strength for this new challenge. “It’s just sheep. How hard can it be?”

…

Very hard, that’s how sheep herding can be. It’s as hard as Shitty Hair’s head and Katsuki is at his wit's end.

The sheep hate them, that’s the only explanation. They refuse to follow any of the paths they drew on the field, they don’t walk together as a herd and they don’t stay inside the chalk-made circles on the grass. It’s been five days and they don’t seem to be any closer to getting this herding shit right as they did on the first day.

Also, his friends’ idiocy is getting out of hand. Every one of them seems to have a ‘brilliant idea’ that will finally make the sheep obey them; but so far Bakugou is pretty sure the only thing the sheep learned is how to show their contempt for the teens with their limited facial expressions.

Sero made them spend a whole day trying to put the sheep on leashes. His reasoning was that this way they could make the sheep get used to the path they expected them to follow and later, after the leashes were off, the sheep would naturally do what they’ve been told. After half a day of making leashes out of old ropes and leather strings and three hours trying to tie the leashes around every one of the sheep, they found out that sheep aren’t really partial to being dragged around.

Most of the sheep simply froze in place and refused to budge no matter how much they pulled through the ropes. The next day they tried again hoping that during the night the sheep had had time to think over their bad behavior and were ready to be guided by the leashes. It obviously didn’t work, so Kirishima took center stage, arguing that the sheep were very intelligent animals and were probably being stubborn on purpose.

After a terrifying speech about the sheep being in collusion with the goats, and a whole heated debate about the animal’s ability to hide axes without opposing thumbs, Kirishima stated that he was the one with the most experience in dealing with the goats so he should be in charge of the sheep herding competition. And Kirishima thought the best way to make the sheep run through the course marked in chalk on the grass was for the teens themselves to run through the courses enough times to make the sheep understand what they should be doing.

That meant a whole other day of running through the field until the Vikings and dragons were panting with their tongues rolled out. That day Katsuki got alarmingly close to actually killing his friend — the only thing that stopped him was that the moment Kirishima said “I think they’re getting the gist of it! Another thirty times or so should do the trick” and Katsuki got ready to kill the redhead, Izuku dropped his head on Bakugou’s shoulder in complete exhaustion.

Katsuki couldn’t disturb Deku’s rest just to kill Kirishima, so the idiot lived to headbang goats another day. Bakugou hugged Izuku’s shoulders and brought the boy close to his chest, feeling his heart swell with emotion. Everything was alright when Izuku was with him. But that moment of peace was short-lived because soon they had to debate another approach to deal with the sheep-issue.

That evening they didn’t reach any big breakthrough, however Bakugou should have noticed the ominous perspectives when Kaminari said “I have an idea, I’ll try to gather what we need for it tonight and then we can test it tomorrow”.

Bakugou thought he was ready to deal with any idiocy his friends brought, but he was wrong. Never before had he felt so amazed at how stupid his friends can be as when Kaminari and Kirishima arrived at the field carrying several large sheep pelts that morning.

“If we look like them, they’ll understand what we need them to do faster!”

No, they didn’t. All good the pelts did was make the teens sweat bullets while they ran on all fours up and down the green field doing the exercises the goddamn sheep should be doing. 

“THAT’S FUCKING IT! I’M SO FUCKING DONE WITH YOUR MORONIC IDEAS! WE CAN'T FUCKING HERD SHEEP! WE CAN’T! AND I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY THE FUCK WE CAN’T SINCE THESE GODDAMN SHEEP ARE ACTUALLY HERDED DAILY BY THE DAMN FARMERS BUT THEY WON’T FOLLOW OUR SHITTY COMMANDS! AND NOW THE ONLY EXPLANATION I GOT FOR THIS UNBELIEVABLE FUCK UP IS THE FACT THAT THE SHEEP ARE ACTUALLY INTELLIGENT AND THEY ARE DONE WITH YOUR BULLSHIT!” Katsuki yells, completely spent and over this bullshit. “THAT’S IT! THE ONLY EXPLANATION FOR THIS SHITSHOW IS THAT THE SHEEP ARE SMARTER THAN US!”

“Bro! Keep your voice down. This won’t get any easier if you stress the sheep,” Kirishima says crossing his arms as if he’s berating a child.

“WON’T GET ANY EASIER? HOW THE FUCK CAN THIS GET ANY HARDER?! WE HAVE LESS THAN THREE DAYS AND THE SHEEP HAVEN’T MADE THE WHOLE COURSE NOT EVEN ONCE!” 

Kaminari gets up from the floor with grass on his mouth and a huge black sheep pelt on his back, “And what’s your suggestion, Baku? I’m only seeing you criticize our ideas, but you haven’t brought anything for us to work with.”

“Yeah, dude. We don’t need your negativity, alright?” Sero ponders.

“I don’t fucking know, ok? Maybe we should try one sheep at the time? Maybe call the farmers to herd them to another field and we bring them one-”

“Hey! Izuku managed to make a sheep complete the course!” Mina says happily next to them, making the four boys turn around just to see Izuku in his dragon form trotting through the field with a sheep on his mouth.

“DEKU!” Katsuki yells and the dragon looks at him with his huge innocent eyes as if he doesn’t know why the Viking is yelling. “The fuck?”

This last question comes out as a whisper in utter disbelief. He doesn’t even know how to express his thoughts about this. Izuku, however, doesn’t seem bothered by it — he simply resumes walking around the course with the sheep in his mouth, showing the rest of the herd how it is done under the terrified gazes of the other sheep.

After finishing the course, the dragon approaches the trembling-in-fear herd, drops down down the frozen-in-panic sheep in his mouth and tries to grab another one, intending to repeat the process. However, this time the sheep run away scared of the big black dragon trying to put them in his mouth and Deku is forced to run after them.

There’s a whole choir of horrified ‘bahs!’ as the sheep run as a perfect herd through the field with the awkward dragon running after them, determined to grab a sheep to show across the course. The herd is fast and manages to evade Deku several times under the stunned eyes of four boys and happy cheers of the dragon girl. Finally Deku manages to corner one sheep and grabs it by the midsection in his toothless mouth.

“DEKU! PUT THE SHEEP DOWN!” Katsuki yells as he finally gathers his bearings. Izuku looks at him with childish petulance and decides to keep walking the course with the sheep. “DEKU! I’M NOT GONNA ASK YOU AGAIN! PUT. THE SHEEP. DOWN!”

Very begrudgingly, Izuku drops the sheep on the floor and gives Katsuki a stinky eye that said ‘I was getting somewhere while you were just yelling at Kirishima, Kacchan’. 

The moment the scared sheep’s hooves touch the floor, the animal runs away — and completes the course perfectly on its own. 

“YAY! Zuku! You did it! You taught the sheep how to herd!” Mina jumps around happily.

“I hope the sheep don’t tell that to the farmers,” Kirishima says worriedly.

***

The sheep must really be intelligent, or magic, or both.

After Deku terrified them through the field once, the whole herd began following their directions through the chalk paths. After completing the course twice, Bakugou told everyone to go home for an early night, better not test their luck.

They drag their feet back home, dirty, tired and hungry. The group of teens split towards their homes silently, and when Bakugou and Izuku reach their home, they go straight to the back to clean up on the washing well. 

Bakugou pulls his sweat-drenched shirt off to clean himself with the cool water of the wooden bucket. When he finishes taking the sweat of his body, he turns to leave and sees that Deku took his vest and shirt off. Katsuki instantly gets mad.

“The fuck, Deku?! We talked about it! You can’t take your vest off where people can see you! What if-” The complaint dies on Katsuki’s mouth when he sees Izuku’s body.

He isn’t a girl anymore. Not only that, Deku is big. Really big, his arms must be thicker than Katsuki’s now; though he’s still shorter in height than Bakugou, the effect of his muscles makes him look like a giant. Before, when Izuku’s human form was a boy, he was small and scrawny — now he is strong like a warrior and realizing that makes Katsuki blush a bright red immediately.

Bakugou turns his face away embarrassed. What the fuck just happened?! Did Deku’s brain just flip the switch of his human form from ‘girl’ to ‘incredible’?

“Oh, it looks like I’m back to having a boy body, Kacchan” Izuku says cheerfully. “Though I still don’t understand why boys can take their shirts off to clean and girls can’t. I’m sure girls sweat too because last night when we got home I stank worse than the pelts.”

“What the fuck just happened to you?” Bakugou barks trying to hide his feelings with anger. “Are you gonna do that every fucking time now? And why the fuck are you stronger? You couldn’t have built muscles like that out of nowhere!”

“Kacchan, how many times do I need to explain to you that this body is just a magical representation of me?” Izuku says, showing up by his side wet, but dressed. “I’ve been feeling stronger since I've learned how to control my powers and stood up for my friends, and now I’ve solved the sheep issue all on my own! Obviously my new abilities would show up on my mental expression of myself!”

“ **_All on your own?_ ** ” Katsuki barks as he pulls Izuku’s ear harshly. “I’m gonna fucking kill you, you little shit! Just to teach you not to be so conceited! You think because you got some muscles now you can talk back to me?!”

“Ain, Kacchan!” Izuku whines but their little scuffle is interrupted by Mitsuki calling for them.

“BRAT! IZUKU! ARE YOU TWO OUT THERE? GET IN TO EAT!”

During dinner, however, Katsuki allows himself to mull over what Izuku said while the dragon chatted happily with his parents about the festival preparations. 

Deku did change a lot since they’ve met. He was a scrawny little thing who looked like he was starving more often than not, enough to think a piece of goat floating on the ocean  _ wasn’t _ a trap. When they began talking, he was still very unsure of himself. Hell, even when he got to the village he was so shy around his parents; but now here he is talking a mile a minute and joking around with the old hag.

This is not the first time Bakugou noticed these changes, but before these thoughts came with a veiled fear that Katsuki didn’t want to admit. He’s been terrified that Izuku would go away after mastering his quirk, and several other dragons showing up to do just that didn’t help Katsuki’s insecurities at all.

What did help was finally admitting to Deku how important the dragon is to him and hearing back that Izuku feels the same. It’s hard to deal with the word sometimes, but the idea of other dragons taking Izuku away was just as terrifying as the idea of the dragons trying to kill everyone in his village. After accepting that, to accept that he loves Deku was the natural next step.

And he does love the dragon and even finds amusing how cheeky and self-assured he’s getting. Also, he misses spending time with Deku just the two of them too much. Sure, they may not be like Kirishima and Mina with the whole idiotic courting. But Izuku and he have their own special thing and Bakugou wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.

That’s why as soon as they finish dinner, Bakugou drags his new beefy boyfriend to their bedroom for cuddles.

“Kacchan! Your mom was in the middle of the story about the lost flowers!” Izuku complains as Bakugou drags him up the stairs.

“I don’t give a shit about damn flowers!” He grunts without letting go of the dragon’s hand.

Katsuki pulls Izuku until they are laying on the pelts and blankets they laid on the floor. They have abandoned the bed for days now since it’s clear that Izuku can’t keep his human form through the night and the bed was scarily close to breaking from the weight of a grown dragon on it every night.

“Kacchan, everything alright?” Izuku asks softly as they snuggle together.

“I‘m fucking tired,” Katsuki grumbles, enjoying the new firm strong form of Deku by resting his head on the dragon’s chest.

“Yeah, but tomorrow will be easier. Now that the sheep problem is solved, we can relax a little.” Deku says running his fingers through Bakugou’s hair.

“Let’s fly away,” the blond boy grunts.

“What?” Izuku asks confused.

“Let’s just fucking go. I’m so done with all this shit.”

The dragon chuckles, “we can’t go away, Kacchan. You are the princess of this village and the people need us here.”

“People can go fuck themselves.”

“Kacchan!”

“I know, I know,” Bakugou huffs. “I’m just tired.”

“In two days we have the festival and then, after that, we can take some time to rest properly,” Izuku whispers softly to him. “We can fly to an island and spend a whole day laying on the sand and eating fruit.”

“That sounds good,” Katsuki mumbles.

Izuku softly kisses his forehead and Bakugou is too relaxed to even blush at the soft display of affection.

“I love you, Kacchan.”

“I love you too, shitty lizard.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took us 25 chapters, but now we have canon body type Deku in his human form!  
> o(*^▽^*)o  
> And they learned how to herd sheep!.... sort of  
> σ(≧ε≦ｏ)
> 
> I hope you all liked this chapter! I'm sorry i haven't been able to keep updating once a week, but it's getting increasingly challenging for me to think about funny situations and good jokes x.x most of the jokes I had for this story I already used, that's why we see Princess Katsuki showing up so often ໒( •́ ∧ •̀ )७


	26. How to not kick off a festival

**How to not kick off a festival**

On the day of the festival, Katsuki wakes up feeling as stressed as he could get. The dragons would return to make more judgments, lots of people were arriving from other places, his village was filled over its capacity and anything could go wrong. The festival would be stretching for the next four days and these might be the most dangerous and anxiety-inducing days of Katsuki’s whole life. Oh, and on the last day, there’d be the sheep herding competition as the cherry on the cake.

Bakugou and Deku didn’t have a lot of time that morning, not even to freak out. They had to eat their breakfast quickly and sneak out before the old hag gave them any chore to be done. There are tons of things that still need to get done for the festival, but this morning Katsuki and Izuku need to welcome the dragons up on the mountaintop.

They had to do this all as quickly as they could. They couldn’t leave the dragons on their own to arrive at the village, that was bound to bring trouble — Mina and Izuku still struggled with human's social norms, the other dragons would certainly make a mess if left to their own devices.

But if they vanished with the dragons for too long, Mitsuki would be furious. The festival days are extremely important for their village; not only all their important allies would be there, wanting to talk to the leaders of Musutafu, but it was also the days they would flaunt their strength to keep their enemies at bay. Earl Mitsuki wouldn’t accept that her son isn’t in his best behavior and at her complete disposal.

The dragons are supposed to arrive early in the morning, so they sneak out of the house before Mitsuki can notice what’s happening and run to the forest to hike up the mountain. As soon as they’re hidden by the thick foliage and the trees, Izuku shifts into his dragon form and Katsuki mounts him so they can rush up. 

They reach the top of the mountain in record time, but there are no dragons there waiting for them.

“Where are the fuckers?”

Izuku looks to the horizon with his dragon eyes, scanning for his friends, but when he doesn’t find anything he turns to Katsuki and shrugs. Well, it looks almost like a shrug, it’s not like Izuku’s shoulders can go up like a human's when he’s in this form.

Resigning himself to the waiting, Bakugou plops down on the grass near the cliff and pats the spot next to him for Deku to sit down too. The dragon snakes his body around Katsuki, allowing the Viking to rest his back on Deku’s strong shoulders and support his arm on the lizard’s front leg. Izuku’s wings are laying flat against his back and Bakugou can touch them if he reaches for it.

Instinctively, Katsuki nuzzles Izuku and is nuzzled back, even though Izuku’s head is as big as his chest in this form. He knows he should be freaking out that the dragons aren’t here, that his mother may be already looking for him and that all this shit will be happening in the next few days but it’s hard to remember to be stressed when he’s around Deku. This is truly all that Katsuki wants from life right now  — to spend his days with Izuku.

“They can’t take too long, the old hag wanted us to help the visitors to set their tents,” Katsuki grumbles a little sleepy. “As if the fuckers can’t do that on their own. What good are allies who can’t even set their own tents? They can’t be much help in a war this way.”

Izuku turns his head to face him and gives him one look that Katsuki instantly understands the meaning.

“I’m not gonna say that in front of them!” He retorts annoyed. “But that they’re shitty, they are…”

The dragon nudges his arm.

“I know it’s important,” he grumbles. “I just wish it was over already. We’ll barely have time to talk over the next few days. You’ll have to babysit the dragons, and I’ll have to put up with the old hag.”

Deku softly touches Bakugou’s arm with his snout and the boy pets him in the big forehead.

“Do you remember us training you how to use your teeth on Turtle Island? It seems like that was a lifetime away now…” Katsuki says thoughtfully and Deku rests his chin on the Viking’s leg. “We should find another island just for the two of us. Leave these fuckers behind.”

Bakugou feels the dragon rubbing his head on his belly and chuckles, “we’d come back to visit though. Like for Shitty Hair and Pinky’s wedding.”

A big huff of air comes out of Izuku’s nose as if he had chuckled.

“Hey, Deku…” Katsuki calls out to him a little bit unsure. There’s something that’s going rounds and rounds in his head for a while, and it’s idiotic and he hates it, but he also feels like he should talk about it with Izuku. “I know that I’m not doing all that stupid shit Kirishima is doing. I mean, I don’t have fucking scales! And I can give you way better food than some disgusting Taiyaki! But… You know... Right?”

Izuku raises his big head from Katsuki’s lap and faces the Viking directly, looking deep into his eyes. The dragon’s eyes are a myriad of bright greens that never cease to enchant Katsuki; he doesn’t know how he could have looked into these eyes before and thought that Deku was anything but magical.

A big and wet tongue licks Katsuki’s face, taking him out of his musings.

“What the-” He starts complaining but the air is knocked out of him by Izuku aggressively rubbing his head on his chest. All the fight drains off him immediately at the dragon’s display of affection.  “Yeah, I love you too, disgusting lizard.”

***

Bakugou comes back to conscience feeling hot. Too hot, it’s like he’s being cooked alive. He can feel Izuku’s smooth hide under his cheek and the sun is so strong that it is burning through his closed eyelids. Katsuki is still sleepy and would like nothing more than to turn around and go back to slumber, but the sun is being a real bitch right now and it’s bringing him to full awareness with the power of its annoyance.

How the fuck is the sun so hot if there’s no window in his room that reaches where he and Izuku sleep? 

And that’s when it hits him — he’s not in his room. Katsuki jumps up startled and looks around. They’re still on the top of the mountain, the sun is high in the sky and there’s no dragon around.

“Deku! Wake up!” Bakugou shakes the sleeping dragon. “They didn’t come! Deku!”

Izuku wakes up as slowly as he did and squints his eyes at the bright clarity of midday sun; but soon he shakes his sleepiness and looks around agitated as if searching for the other dragons.

“Why didn’t they come? Fuck!” Izuku looks just as confused as he is.

Honestly, Katsuki prefers to not even think about the reasons why the dragons couldn’t come. None of them is a good thing, and right now they had other issues to solve.

“We need to go back! The hag must be gathering search parties at this point!” Katsuki says getting up and starting to run back down the mountain. 

Deku is still looking to the horizon with a very worried expression on his face. Bakugou can see the gears of his brain turning wildly and he knows Izuku is making the worst assumptions possible.

“Deku! Let’s go!” He yells. “There’s nothing we can do right now! We’ll see about that as soon as we can!”

The dragon gives one more hopeful look to the sea before turning back and running to go down the mountain with Katsuki. Bakugou mounts Izuku with ease and they go back to their village as fast as they can.

“When we get to the village, I’ll look for my mother and you go find Mina,” Katsuki says as Izuku throttles down the forest with him on his back. “Talk to her and see what can be done, but don’t do anything hasty without talking to me, ok?”

As the forest thins out on the base of the mountain Bakugou jumps off and Izuku turns back into his human body.

“I’ll run to the Great Hall to talk to the hag, Pinky should be with Shitty Hair fixing up the tents,” Katsuki says to Izuku.

“Alright!” The other boy says rushedly, already turning to run away, but Bakugou holds Izuku’s wrist to force him to stay.

“I mean it, Deku. Don’t do anything hasty,” he says looking deeply into Izuku’s eyes. “If I find out you flew away without talking to me, I’ll hunt you down and skin you alive!”

Izuku smiles at him, “I’ll be worried about you too, Kacchan. Take care!” Before running away, the dragon gives Katsuki a soft kiss on the cheek that makes the Viking blush all the way to his ears.

Katsuki actually loses some very precious seconds stunned in place, touching with the tip of his fingers the spot that Izuku kissed. But he grabs a hold of himself soon enough and runs towards the Great Hall, praying to every god he ever heard of that his mother would not actually kill him this time.

However, as he gets closer to the village's center he notices the movement around the village is not what he expected — he was waiting to see carts of food and goods being pushed around, lots of excited people, kids running, flowers and flags everywhere; but what he found was people running with swords, orders of command being yelled around, kids crying in corners. This is not a festival, this is a preparation for war.

“Bakugou!” 

Katsuki hears Sero calling him and as he looks around he finds the boy and Kaminari rushing towards him.

“The fuck is going on here?” Katsuki asks.

“Shigaraki’s army attacked! They attacked one of the caravans that were on their way here!” Kaminari says agitated.

“There was just one survivor, he almost died to get here and tell what happened,” Sero explains. “And he said Shigaraki plans to raid down every village on his way here, taking advantage of the fact that most of the villages are almost empty anyway. They’ll burn down every food stock and kill all the animals until they reach Musutafu!”

Bakugou feels like throwing up. All this time he was worried about the damn sheep herding competition and flying away to spend time with Deku, and all the while Shigaraki was making moves against his allies and now he’s coming for his people. 

They need to fight him! They need to send this fucker to the ends of the earth! Shigaraki can’t come and simply destroy everything everyone worked hard for!

“Get Kirishima! And go pick our weapons!” Katsuki orders his friends. “I’m gonna talk to mom and we’ll destroy these fuckers!”

Sero and Kaminari nod courtly and run to do as they’re told as Bakugou resumes his path to the Great Hall. He has seen his village preparing for war before, but it’s been years since that happened and it was never on this scale. What he saw was Mitsuki gathering together about thirty or so warriors of their village to scare away sheep robbers or stake claims on the outer edges of their alliance’s territory.

But now, there must be over a hundred and fifty people running around with swords, preparing horses, fixing up armor and packing provisions. It’s a mess, it’s crowded and it makes Bakugou’s guts twist in on themselves. His mother called in every person able to carry a sword to prepare for this battle, it means Mitsuki knows whatever they’ll find in Shigakari’s army needs every ounce of power they can muster to defeat.

“HAVE THE SCOUTS RETURNED? I NEED TO KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!” Mitsuki's voice thunders over the crowded streets and Katsuki sees his mother standing tall and proud in front of the Great Hall in her complete war outfit. “Are the horses ready? We’re marching away as soon as the scouts get here!”

“Hag! I’m here! What can I do?” Katsuki asks, approaching his mother.

“There you are, brat! There’s no time to waste! The scouts will be here any second and then me and our strongest warriors will ride fast towards Shigaraki.” Mitsuki explains walking briskly and Katsuki follows her. “We’ll save whoever we can, but we’ll try not to enter direct confrontation with them before the bulk of our warriors, that’ll be on foot, reach us. I need you to assist Aizawa in organizing the foot soldiers to leave as quickly as possible while I’m leading the cavalry!”

Mitsuki doesn’t miss a beat as they reach the warriors and horses. Everyone is ready to go and she mounts a big black horse. Katsuki’s father was also among the warriors, and it pulls on the strings of Katsuki’s heart to see his gentle father in war gear.

“After sending Aizawa and the foot soldiers away, you’ll be responsible to keep the village in order. There are a lot of children staying behind, and old merchants. Organize everyone to sleep in the Hall and keep an eye on things.”

“What?! No! I’m coming with Aizawa!” Katsuki protests.

“No! You’re staying behind and taking care of things, Katsuki!” Mitsuki barks back.

“I’m going, old hag!”

“No, you’re not, brat! If I see you on the battlefield, I swear you’re never becoming the First Warrior, Katsuki. A First Warrior would never disobey their Earl.”

“But I’m a warrior too! I need to go!” He says furiously.

“THE SCOUTS ARE HERE!” Someone yells from the distance.

“You’re not a warrior yet! There’s no tooth around your neck! You stay behind and look after the children!” And without giving him any time to retort, Mitsuki calls for the cavalry and speeds away.

“IT’S TIME! LET’S RIDE AND STOP THESE VILLAINS!”

The horses thunder past Bakugou, leaving him behind stunned. Only after the floor stopped shaking and the dust had settled Katsuki really felt the pain and fury from his mother’s words. He’s a freaking warrior! He doesn’t need to kill dragons to prove that, he’s been training for this his whole life! It’s not by killing an innocent creature that he’ll show the world he’s ready for this responsibility!

Feeling fired up by this thought, Katsuki runs to find Aizawa. He’ll prove to his mentor that he’s ready! He can join the warrior ranks to protect his people!

For the next hours, Bakugou Katsuki is the bright example of a dedicated young warrior helping his village. Aizawa doesn’t even need to yell because Katsuki is already doing what needs to be done. He organizes the people packing the provisions, helps push the carts together to protect the food that the outsiders brought, puts the foot soldiers under formation. All of this with the help of Kirishima, Sero and Kaminari. The four of them work their asses off to show their mentor they’re ready to go to war.

***

“Absolutely not.” 

Aizawa says with conviction, making the hopeful and determined faces of the four young Vikings fall in disbelief.

“But we-”

“We did-”

“It’s not-”

“How-”

“No. And that’s final. We’re already in an emergency, I’ll not have four teenagers running around a battlefield when we’ll face the most dangerous enemy we have ever encountered.”

“But I’m ready!” Katsuki exclaims frustrated. “I can fight! It’s my duty! I’m gonna be Earl, I need to defend my people!”

“You’ll be but you’re not yet. Right now your mother’s words are law and she made it very clear: no dragon, no war.” Aizawa says putting an end to every other protest in the young man’s tongue. “Now I have to go, take care of the village.”

As the last soldiers marched away with Aizawa, the boys just look at the horizon, feeling the weight of the injustice. Their friends, aunts, uncles, so many people they’ve known for all their lives are going towards a vicious enemy with a huge army ready to kill them all — and they have to stay behind just praying things turn out alright.

Bakugou is so caught up in his anger and frustration that he almost doesn’t hear Izuku calling out for him.

“Kacchan!” 

Katsuki turns back and sees Izuku and Mina together with the fucking purple dragon Kaminari likes so much and the whiny Round Faced girl who wants to steal Deku away. Well, apparently only half of the dragons’ party made it to the ruined festival.

“Hey,” Katsuki says sadly. “What happened to the other fuckers?”

“There were complications with the Elders, Shouto and Tenya couldn’t make it,” the purple fucker explains already making eyes to Dunce Face.

“Kacchan, are you alright?” Izuku asks with a very worried expression, getting close to Katsuki.

“I’m a fucking failure, Deku,” Bakugou says looking away and kicking dirt. “All this time I was trying to teach you how to fight, saying I was a warrior, but I’m not a warrior. I’m not even a foot soldier. I’m just good enough to stay behind.”

“No, Kacchan! I’ve heard what Aizawa said, but he’s wrong! Kacchan is the strongest warrior and the princess of this village! You’re the one who taught me how to use my teeth and my powers! Kacchan is amazing and will go to battle!”

“Just quit it, Deku. It’s useless,” Katsuki shuts him down and begins to walk away.

“No!” Izuku yells making everyone turn their heads to him. “Aizawa said: no dragon, no battle. Well, you have a dragon, Kacchan.”

And then Deku produces the leather saddle they’ve created to let Katsuki ride him from his back. The dragon offers the saddle to the Viking with a determined look on his face.

“Deku, if we do that-” Katsuki’s voice falters but he tries again. “If we do that, everyone will know. My village, the other dragons. Everyone.”

“The Elders already know, that’s why Shouto and Tenya aren’t here. And the other humans… We will deal with that after we save everyone’s lives, Kacchan.”

Looking deep into Izuku’s green eyes, Katsuki is reminded again that, yeah, Deku is pure magic. There’s nothing the little dragon can’t do once he sets his mind to it —  and there’s nothing they can’t do when they work together. 

Suddenly, changing the whole world doesn’t sound so impossible.

“Let’s fucking do it, Deku!” Katsuki says with a wild smirk.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just letting you guys know I've been thinking about the last few lines of this chapter since I began thinking about this fic xD
> 
> Also, I'm afraid we're coming towards the final arc of this story. I believe we have about 5 more chapters to go and I'm already getting anxious about not being able to write about my sheep, my dragons and my silly Vikings.
> 
> And [Pancake Platypus](https://www.instagram.com/pancakeplatypus/) did a [BEAUTIFUL art of dragon Izuku](https://www.instagram.com/p/B2r-TL0ALzQ/)!!!! I love it so much! He looks perfect!!!! 
> 
> Hope you guys liked the chapter! ❤️🐑❤️🐲❤️


	27. How to stop a war

**How to stop a war**

Izuku is soaring through the skies. Kacchan’s weight on his back is the same as nothing as he flaps his powerful wings, piercing through the clouds. He’s going as fast as he can without using his quirk — if he did, his friends wouldn’t be able to keep up.

Behind him, the dragon knows Mina is flying with Kirishima, Hitoshi is bringing Denki, and Ochako has a terrified Sero on her back. All of them are doing their best to not think about the consequences of what they’re about to do because the consequences of not doing it could be even worse.

Izuku will not stand idly and watch villains destroy the village that welcomed him with warmth and love since the second he put a paw there. He’ll not see people he cares so deeply about, like Kacchan’s parents, get hurt or worse while fighting to protect the weak. For the dragon, this is not only about helping Kacchan stand his ground as a warrior; this is what Izuku has always dreamt of doing, the reason why he wanted so hard to be able to control his powers — to be able to protect the ones he loves.

“Deku! We should be close! Go lower!” Katsuki’s voice sounds near Izuku’s ear and the dragon does as instructed.

The dragon has never been so deep into the countryside. He’s heard that the continent is vast, older dragons said it was bigger than a thousand isles combined; but it’s very different to see the immensity of it on his own. It’s like the sea but made out of fields, forests and mountains.

It’s a beautiful sight and Izuku wishes he could explore these lands in better circumstances. But, right now, it’s impossible to miss the thick smoke in the distance, rising to the sky. Shigaraki’s army really is burning down the almost-empty small villages on his way to Musutafu. Izuku can’t believe someone can be so mean to attack places when only the elderly and those who can’t travel were left behind.

They need to stop Shigakari’s army and get rid of the fire. With renewed conviction, Izuku flaps his wings even faster to reach their enemies. The reptile’s eyes scan the fields under him looking for Mitsuki’s army, he needs to find them and not let them get hurt!

Finally, Izuku sees Shigaraki’s army - they must have, at least, three hundred people. The fighters look angry and blood-thirsty, the kind of description Izuku used to hear of humans in general before meeting Kacchan. They look dirty and bear rusty weapons. Their combined screams make Izuku’s blood run cold in his veins, they’re truly terrifying.

Mitsuki’s army, for now, is just around thirty people and their horses. They look stronger and more put together, with better weapons and armor; but having to face enemies in ten to one doesn’t make their odds look so good. The cavalry gallops towards the huge army with unparalleled bravery, knowing fully well that this wasn’t going to be an easy battle.

Izuku sees the armies colliding in the distance. It’s a fierce fight, each Viking’s horse is surrounded by several of Shigaraki’s soldiers but they keep going. A barn that must be full of grain burns down close by and Mitsuki’s cavalry probably intends to save the food. Winter approaches quickly and they can’t afford to lose so much.

By the scream coming from Katsuki, the dragon is not the only one who sees when Mitsuki’s bright blond head falls off her horse and the woman is forced to fight the blood-thirsty mercenaries on her own. It’s entirely by instinct that Izuku lights up his quirk and closes the distance to the battle.

The dragon isn’t thinking anymore, so he doesn’t hear the gasps and terrified screams from the crowd as he approaches them. Izuku is too focused on Mitsuki’s struggle against six other soldiers, she’s much more skilled than them, but it’s a very unfair fight. Izuku sees as the woman pushes her enemies away from her and fails to notice that a seventh soldier decided to join the brawl. 

The man raises his rusty ax ready to deal a killing blow on the back of her neck and Izuku’s body just moves on its own. He can feel his quirk lighting up, his movements speeding and all he wants to do is get the villain away from Kacchan’s mom. So the dragon headbutts the soldier and the man flies away with great speed.

“HELL YEAH!” Katsuki yells from his back and starts brandishing his sword against the enemies who are still close enough.

Izuku doesn’t take the time to celebrate; with a swift sweep of his tail, he knocks down the other three enemies. He’s trying to keep tab on Mitsuki and every one of their allies, but the battle is hectic. There are too many people around and it’s hard for Izuku to really understand what’s going on. 

The noises, smells and images are quickly overwhelming the dragon’s sensitive senses. Izuku stands stunned in the middle of it all without knowing where to even start. There’s smoke everywhere, and the enraged and terrified screams are making him dizzy.

“DEKU! ON OUR RIGHT!” Katsuki’s yell breaks through Izuku’s foggy mind.

He turns to the right just in time to headbutt an enemy that was coming to pierce him with his sword.

“LEFT! AND ON OUR BACK!” Kacchan calls out every enemy that approaches, helping to keep Izuku grounded and focus. 

In no time at all, they’re working like a well-oiled machine and taking down dozens of soldiers.

“DIE, YOU SUCKERS!” Bakugou says as Izuku’s powerful tail sends another enemy flying away. 

The dragon can hear the cocky smile on his Kacchan’s face and he can’t help but get a little cocky too. The villains start to run away, but they’ll not let them get out of this so easily. Katsuki yells a few more commands, and Izuku is running after them until he’s running through them, making them fly over his head.

They come to a halt in front of Mitsuki. The woman has a stiff posture and an unreadable expression on her face. Izuku feels dread while waiting for her reaction, terrified of what the woman can say, if she can even recognize him as the boy who has been living in her home. Katsuki, however, doesn’t have such reservations.

“HAVE YOU SEEN THIS, OLD HAG? I HAVE A FUCKING DRAGON! AND HIS MOUTH IS FULL OF TEETH!” Bakugou brags before pulling Izuku away. “LET’S GO DEKU! LET’S KILL THESE FUCKERS!”

To his left, Izuku can see Mina and Ochako flapping their enormous wings, putting out the fire in the barn. They seem to have it covered, the flames are quickly dying under the great wind they are producing. Hitoshi and Denki are to the right, protecting a small wooden hut that’s probably housing the elderly and sick of this village. The purple dragon is using his big body to make sure no villain gets close to it.

“DEKU! LET’S FIND SHIGARAKI!” Katsuki yells, pressing his heels on Izuku to urge him to fly. 

There’s no use in winning the battle if they let Shigaraki escape. The villain may gather another army and try to make this conquest all over again. 

On air it isn’t hard to find the leader of the attack. Shigaraki is the only one in his army with a horse and, right now, he’s using this resource to gallop away, leaving his men behind. Izuku is disgusted by him. People like Shigaraki are the ones who give humans such a bad reputation.

If there were no Shigarakis in the world, maybe dragons and humans could be friends. Maybe Izuku and Kacchan would have had the chance to grow together, sharing all kinds of stories and experiences. Maybe they wouldn’t have to be afraid of the consequences of doing the right thing. And that’s so important — Izuku is sure he’s doing the right thing right now, but he doesn’t know if everyone will agree with him.

The horse is fast, but Izuku is much, much faster. They reach Shigaraki in seconds and Izuku bites the villain’s collar and lifts him by his clothes from his horse. Shigaraki trashes away to get Izuku to let go of him, but the dragon doesn’t get bothered at all. He turns around and flies back to deliver the enemy leader to their leader Mitsuki (praying that’s enough to buy her favor).

“LET GO OF ME! YOU FILTHY DRAGON SCUM!” Shigaraki yells trying to get away from Izuku’s powerful hold and Katsuki hits him on top of his head with the blunt side of his sword.

“SHUT UP, ASSHOLE! YOU DON’T TALK TO DEKU LIKE THAT!”

Izuku drops Shigaraki on the floor like a bag of potatoes in front of Mitsuki’s and Masaru’s feet. The rest of the enemy army is being corralled by the Vikings’ cavalry, and the other three dragons and their respective riders are standing by and watching Mitsuki’s reaction with bated breath.

He decides to sit down too, and Katsuki slips out of his back and stands by his side, also watching his mother with more solemnity than he has ever seen from the young Viking before. Mitsuki wastes no time before she starts speaking.

“Shigaraki Tomura, your crimes against our people end here. You’ll be taken for judgment and will answer for your acts in front of the council of Earls.”

“I’ll kill you all!” Tomura threatens but, with a nod of Mitsuki’s head, he’s taken away by soldiers.

“And you two,” Mitsuki turns to Izuku and Bakugou with a severe expression. “You can make yourself look like a human, right?” Izuku nods to her. “Well then, get to it.”

In a blink of an eye, Izuku shifts into his human form under the shocked gazes of dozens of humans. Gasps and ‘ooh’s are heard across the field, but Mitsuki’s eyes remain impassable. The dragon can’t help but fidget under the intensity of her scrutiny.

“So, you two broke every single rule I ever made. My own son brought a dragon under my roof; let him walk among our people, our children; got involved in some kind of sorcery; and, as if it was not enough, broke my direct order to stay behind and came to battle bringing three other dragons.”

Izuku lowers his head, squeezes his eyes shut, and trembles in fear. Even Kacchan’s hand is shaking a little, but the young Viking keeps standing tall against the onslaught of accusations. 

“Yes, I fucking did,” Katsuki says with fake courage. His words are bold, but his voice breaks. “Your rules are dumb. Dragons aren’t evil, they’re just some big stupid lizards.”

“Can you speak for all the dragons, brat? Can you attest that none of them is a risk?” Mitsuki’s words cut deep into Izuku because he still doesn’t know what is the situation back in the archipelago.

“Can you speak for all the shitty humans? If none of them were risks, we wouldn’t be in this goddamn battle to begin with!” Katsuki barks back.

The silence stretches and Izuku keeps his eyes shut, too scared to face the woman he has been deceiving for so long. She’s right, they lied to her and put her village at risk. Even if it was never their intention; the fact that Todoroki decided he liked pies was the only reason the village wasn’t burned down should be enough indication that Kacchan and Izuku really took things way too far. All they wanted was to know more about each other, be friends and stay together — but this has put too many people at risk.

“Izuku,” Mitsuki calls for him and the dragon tentatively opens his eyes, ready to close them again at any sign of danger. As their eyes finally meet, she continues. “I’m not happy that you lied to me.” She says sternly and Izuku almost shuts his eyes again. “But I understand why you did it. Thank you for coming to our aid, all of you.” 

She turns to Katsuki. 

“You’re right, brat. Unfair laws should be challenged. I wish you’d have talked to me before we got to this situation, but I’m glad my old prejudices didn’t stop you from making new friends.”

“Deku isn’t my friend,” Katsuki interrupts her. “He’s my love.”

Izuku, bewildered, turns to Katsuki and slaps him on the arm, “Kacchan! Not now!”

“If we are doing this shit, we are doing it right! I don’t want the old hag flipping her shit when she’s invited for Shitty Hair and Pinky’s wedding!” Katsuki retorts.

“You’re all too young to think about marriage anyway, brat!” Mitsuki barks annoyed at them and marches until she’s close enough to them to pull the two boys into a hug. “You two fought so well! I’m so proud! Izuku is so strong!”

“GET OFF ME, OLD HAG! AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHITTY DEKU IS STRONG? I’M THE BEST WARRIOR!”

“YOU JUST SAT ON HIS BACK AND BARKED ORDERS, BRAT! LITTLE IZUKU DID ALL THE WORK ON HIS OWN!”

Izuku ignored their yelling and just hugged them back as tight as he could. Not wanting to be left out of the fun, Masaru joined them as well. 

When Katsuki finally managed to make his mother release them, Masaru starts speaking.

“That’s a pretty nice work you two did, modifying that saddle,” he says with a warm smile.

“It was Kacchan! He did everything on his own!” Izuku explains excitedly.

“Congratulations, son. Saddles are very challenging to make, that’s a good piece of leatherwork!” The older man says, patting his son’s back.

“Thanks, old man,” Kacchan answers, his ears getting pink in embarrassment.

***

On their way back to the village, the young Vikings chatted carefreely on the back of the flying dragons. They were all slowly flying close to the ground, to keep pace with the cavalry on the ground.

“It was so cool! We were there all like ‘you won’t touch the grandpas here!’” Kaminari says making an angry voice.

“You two just sat in front of the door!” Kirishima teases. “Mina and I put out a fire!”

“Pinky and Round Face were flapping their wings and what did you two idiots do? Yelled at the fire?” Katsuki pokes.

“Sero still looks like he’s about to throw up, so I don’t think he yelled a lot,” Kaminari shrugs.

“As if you did any more than that, bro!” The redhead complains.

“Of course I did! I directed Deku! Told him where to go and who to hit! We’re the only ones who actually saw battle, you three are still useless!” Katsuki argues.

The dragons were quiet not only because they can’t talk to the humans in their current form, but because they’re having a conversation of their own.

‘If Shouto and Tenya haven’t arrived by the time we return to the village…’ Ochako starts but isn’t brave enough to finish her thought.

‘I will go back to the archipelago to talk to the Elders,’ Izuku resolves.

‘We will go back,’ Hitoshi interjects. ‘You’re not gonna face them on your own.’

‘Exactly! We’re gonna kick their asses together!’ Mina agrees.

‘No!’ Izuku’s thought breaks through their wave of supportive pledges. ‘I’m facing them on my own. I don’t want any of you involved in it.’

‘Izuku, we-’ Ochako tries arguing, but the green dragon doesn’t give her the chance.

‘No, Ochako. This is my mess. It’s bad enough that Shouto and Tenya had to stay behind facing the consequences of my actions, I’m not going to allow any other friend of mine to get caught up in this.’

‘Izuku, you know the punishment for a transgression of this level. You’re probably going to be exiled to one of the Barren Islands. No food, no drinking water, and with the worst kind of dragon around, the other exiles.’ Hitoshi thinks somberly.

‘I know. I knew that when I chose to keep seeing Kacchan.’

‘Izuku, you’re not the only one responsible! I agreed to all of this with you!’ Mina protests.

‘You’re the strongest dragon of our generation, Mina. I need you to stay back on the village and protect it in case the Elders decide that punishing me isn’t enough.’

‘But-’

‘No buts! You stay with Kirishima and the others, have a beautiful wedding and protect the village. I’ll convince the Elders that this was all my fault and that I should be the only one punished. I won’t hear any debate about this from any of you.’

‘Bakugou wouldn’t-’

‘Kacchan is a princess and he knows he needs to protect his people above everything else. He can’t be the First Warrior if he lets the village get in real danger.’ Izuku thinks, even though he lets his pain slip through in his thoughts. ‘Also… I don’t want this village to get in danger. I love the people here and this time I’m going to be their warrior.’

The rest of the trip home was done in silence and with heavy hearts by the dragons while, on their backs, the Vikings talked joyfully. Hearing their joyful laughter only solidified Izuku’s resolve. He can’t let anything bad happen to these people, to his friends, to his love.

When they got back, the other dragons landed on the city center, but Izuku flew all the way to Bakugou’s house.

“We did it, Deku!” Kacchan celebrates happily, a bright smile on his face. “We kicked the villain’s ass, won the war and made the old hag accept you all! We’re the fucking best!”

Izuku smiles watching Kacchan’s excitement and hugs the boy.

“We did it, Kacchan. You were great out there in the battle,” he says fondly.

“You were good too, nerd. You really did learn all I taught you,” Katsuki answers looking into Izuku’s eyes.

“You’re the best teacher,” Izuku’s smile falters as the memories of what he has to do flood his brain. “I- I really love you, Kacchan. I’m so happy that your mother accepted you’re the best warrior in this village.”

“Deku, I-” Katsuki can’t seem to find the words, so he decides to go for action.

He raises his hand to cup Izuku’s face and very slowly, very softly brings their lips together in a kiss. 

It’s a very sweet and gentle kiss, their lips just lightly touch, but it’s enough to knock their breaths away. Izuku feels like his heart wants to explode, and he can hear the wild thumps coming from Kacchan’s rib cage.

They separate, blushing and embarrassed. The two of them can’t even meet each other’s eyes after their exciting first kiss. There’s nothing that Izuku wants more than to hug Kacchan again and never let go, but he’ll have to accept this as a going-away gift.

“I- I need to check on Ochako,” he says awkwardly.

“Yeah, sure… I’ll just- ahn… put the saddle away,” Katsuki says, picking it from the floor.

Izuku doesn’t say another word; he just turns and walks away briskly. If he had said something else, Katsuki would hear the sob that is threatening to break from his throat.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ┬┴┬┴┤(･_├┬┴┬┴  
>  _please don't yell at me_


	28. How to face the Elders

**How to face the Elders**

Katsuki feels like someone just pushed him out of a cliff. One moment he’s under the sun, feeling like he’s on top of the world; the next, the ground vanished beneath his feet and he’s plunging to his death.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘ _H_ _E’S GONE_ ’?” He yells in a mix of fury and disbelief. “HOW COULD YOU LET HIM?”

“He didn’t let me go with him! He said he should be the one to talk to the Elders. He wanted me to stay behind to protect the village in case things don’t work out...” Mina pleads with tears in her eyes. “I told him it wasn’t a good idea, but he didn’t listen,” she completes softly.

Deku is _gone_. Simply like that, he’s gone. 

Just this afternoon they were facing an enemy army in front of every warrior in their village and _winning_. Just a couple of hours ago, they were sharing their first kiss. And now Deku is gone as if none of that mattered.

A part of Katsuki is in deep pain and wants nothing more than to hide in his room and nurse his broken heart. But another part, a louder and wilder part, is just furious. How dare Deku leave him behind after everything they talked about? How dare Mina and the other dragons keep this information from Katsuki for so long? How dare these fucking Elders to demand explanations? How dare the whole fucking world try to keep him and Deku apart?

Bakugou was a fool. He got caught up in his own happiness and embarrassment over kissing Deku and didn’t realize the warning signs. There must have been warning signs, Deku can’t hide shit for the life of him. And yet, Katsuki only realized something was amiss when the hours passed and his dragon didn’t show up for dinner.

But he won’t waste even a second longer. He’ll get Deku back, then he’ll kick the idiot’s ass for doing something so stupid, and then he’ll kiss him even more stupid to convince the dragon to never leave him again.

With that thought in mind, Katsuki spins on his heels and leaves Kirishima’s house. The street is dark, the moon is high in the sky, but the young Viking doesn’t second-guess his decision for even one second.

“BRO! Where are you going?” The redhead calls out for him.

“I’m gonna get Deku back,” he answers marching towards the beach.

“How are you gonna get there?” Mina asks running after him.

“Like I always did, by fucking boat! I don’t need any of you big lizards’ help to do the things I want to do!” Katsuki answers furious. 

He’s so angry that Deku thought he had to do this on his own. **AS IF**! Katsuki is the one who taught the damn runt how to fight, how to hunt, how to use his own goddamn powers! The other dragons never managed to help Deku with that, and now the shitty nerd thinks **_he_** **_needs to save Katsuki?!_** Not in a million years!

“‘I can take you there!” Mina says and is promptly shut down.

“NO. Deku was right, we need someone to defend the village in case the dragons try to pull a shitty move.”

“Then I’ll go with you!” Kirishima interjects. “We can take one of the bigger and faster boats!”

“Whatever, just don’t slow me down,” Katsuki barks.

“Mina! Get Kami and Sero!” Shitty Hair asks, Bakugou doesn’t look back to see what came through that.

As soon as he arrives at the beach he picks the fastest boat around. It’s a big and heavy boat that’s already in the water, anchored down to not get lost in the sea. Usually, this boat isn’t even used for fishing, just for battle and diplomatic work so he isn’t ready to sail like the others. But Bakugou knows that any minute he spends prepping the boat will be paid off in double when the vessel starts piercing through the waves.

The young Viking fixes the sails, ties the ropes and, with Kirishima’s help, pulls up the anchor. Just as he’s ready to steer away, Sero and Kaminari arrive. The boys came running, their breaths ragged and sweat dripping down their temples.

“DUDE!” Kaminari screams as he jumps into the boat. “Mina told us what happened! We’re going with you!”

“If you two are coming, you better be ready to not get in my way. There’ll be dragons, fucking loads of them, and they aren’t gonna be the harmless idiots that you guys met.” Bakugou says serious, giving a pointed look to Sero.

Katsuki isn’t stupid. He knows this is a suicide mission and that things can go terribly wrong at the drop of a hat. There’s no doubt in his mind that this will be dangerous; hell, he intends to challenge several dragons for their outdated rules and demand them to release Izuku to him. 

Bakugou doesn’t want his first, and maybe only, act as a leader of his village be to take three other young Vikings to their death. But he also understands that his friends are warriors like him; that they have their pride and that leaving them behind would be patronizing and very hypocritical of him. Still, Katsuki feels the need to remind his friends what this all entails.

“Izuku is our friend too, Baku,” Sero says looking him straight in the eye. “And we’re warriors of the village of Musutafu — we will not let fear stand in our way.”

With a court nod, they’re all ready to go. 

The cold wind is piercing through his skin. Katsuki has never sailed in the dead of night and he can’t help but be thankful for the full moon lighting their way. They’ll travel the whole night and be lucky to get to the big island in the middle of the dragons’ territory at dawn. 

Actually, they’ll be lucky if they aren’t attacked and have to fight against hostile dragons as soon as they cross into their territory. After talking with Deku more about the dragons’ defense structure, Katsuki came to understand that it was sheer dumb luck that he wasn’t killed by a party of three adult dragons the day he met Izuku.

For a miracle, his friends seem to understand that Katsuki isn’t feeling like being social and leave him alone during most of the trip there. It’s also a challenge to handle a big and complex boat like the one they took with only four people, so they have to keep their focus. Only when the sun starts peeking on the horizon and they can see the small dot over the waves that is the first island of the dragons’ archipelago is that Kirishima comes to stand by his side.

“I know you probably don’t want to hear about this,” the redhead starts.

“Then don’t fucking say anything,” Bakugou interrupts him.

“They brought swords, Kami and Sero.” Kirishima says seriously. “Not our personal weapons, but swords that were being prepared for the battle against Shigaraki. One for each of us, if we need it.”

“If we attack a dragon, they won’t listen to us and they might do something worse to Deku.” Katsuki says without taking his eyes off the horizon.

“I know. I’m just telling you… Because we don’t know if we’ll have the chance of getting close enough to free Izuku.”

“If things go bad,” Katsuki starts and Kirishima interrupts him.

“We’ll fight with you.”

“You’ll go home. I’m sure the purple fucker will help you guys out, he’s sweet on Dunce Face. If things go bad, you guys fly away from there as fast as you can, warn my mother and leave Musutafu behind.”

“Bro, we ain’t gonna leave our home,” the redhead pleads.

“The village isn’t the place the houses are, Shitty Hair. Mom knows that. She’ll understand the need to leave the place. Take Mina and any other lizard who help you guys escape with the humans. Whoever stands with us is our people, no matter which shape they come.”

“And you?” Kirishima asks with tears in his eyes, dreading the answer but already knowing it anyway.

“My home is where Deku is and I’ll not leave him behind,” Katsuki says with a deep certainty. “No matter what.”

Whatever protest Kirishima has died on his tongue because one of the waves explodes, splashing water through the whole deck and out of it a huge teal-green dragon shows up.

The dragon is very different from the ones they met before. Their tail and hind legs look more like something that should be on a fish than on a lizard. Katsuki has heard of this type of dragon but hasn’t ever seen one — a water dragon.

The water dragon jumps on top of their boat, occupying at least a third of the deck. Every one of the Vikings stops on their tracks, their bodies ready to run for their swords, that are resting against the mainmast, on the first sign of danger.

“NO ONE MOVES A FINGER,” Katsuki yells at his friends without taking his eyes from the dragon. The deep black eyes on the reptile’s face look at him with something akin to curiosity and Bakugou decides to take his chance in talking to the lizard. 

“I’m here to save Izuku,” Bakugou tells the dragon as earnestly as he can manage.

In a blink of an eye, the water dragon transforms before them. Where stood the huge teal beast making their boat tilt by their weight, suddenly there’s a small, skinny girl. Her limbs look too long for her body, her clothes seem to be made of seaweed, her back is curved and she has the longest hair any of the young Vikings has ever seen.

“Yiu re Izudku’s frinds,” the girl states, struggling with her words even worse than Izuku and Ochako did. “Iam Tsuyu. Wel-coom.” She smiles sweetly for them and the tension dissipates instantly.

“Yes! We’re Izuku’s friends! Can you show us where to find him?” Kirishima asks, smiling to the girl as if they’re old friends.

“‘Iitoshi as-d me to taee you there,” she says pointing to the horizon. “Foll-w me.”

With one last smile, the girl jumps in the water and emerges as a dragon in front of their boat. The four boys scramble around to set sail after her as fast as they could.

“Well, I guess that helps with the risk of getting caught up in a fight,” Kirishima says smiling brightly. His positive outlook of the situation, however, wasn’t really reaching Katsuki.

“If the violet asshole sent her, it means he knew we were coming. It means he knew Izuku wouldn’t get out of this place before we arrived and that whatever is happening, it’s serious.” Katsuki says with his eyes on the horizon, hoping that the dragons’ island shows up sooner rather than later.

***

Every dragon knows.

As Tsuyu leads them to the big island in the center of the dragons’ territory, more and more dragons start showing up around their boat. Some are inside the water, some are flying above them, some are just looking at them from the smaller islands' beaches and rocks in the middle of the ocean. But every single pair of lizard eyes are on their boat.

Seto shakes like a leaf and hugs Kaminari, while Kirishima waves to the dragons as if he’s the main attraction in a parade. Bakugou just keeps focusing on the big island because he knows that’s where Izuku is, and that’s where he’ll find the damn Elders everyone talks about.

As the sand reaches the bottom of the boat and it gets stuck, Katsuki wastes no time in jumping off, even though the water is still knee-high. Tsuyu is waiting for them in her dragon form on the beach together with Hitoshi. Several other dragons look at them, they’re scattered around on the beach and the treeline. 

Bakugou stalks towards the two dragons he knows without a second thought. His determination doesn’t waver not even once as he marches on for (almost) certain death, and he doesn’t even spare a glance at his friends who just got the courage to jump off the boat.

“Where is Izuku?” Katsuki asks seriously to the purple dragon.

Hitoshi shifts into his human form and all the dragons watching make sounds of surprise and disbelief. The violet fucker has a stern look on his face that doesn’t make Katsuki’s anxiety release its hold on his heart.

“He’s talking to the Elders right now,” the dragon informs him.

“Then I’m going to do that too,” he says determined.

“I don’t think that’s advisable. We have one Elder who is very much against humans of any kind.” Hitoshi says shaking his head.

“Do I look like I give a fuck to what they like?” Katsuki retorts. “I want to take Deku home, and I want to do it now.”

“Bakugou-”

“Hitoshi!” Kaminari interrupts him, getting closer with a worried look on his face. “We need to save Izuku.”

Kaminari and Hitoshi exchange a long, silent look before the dragon sighs in defeat.

“Follow me.”

Hitoshi leads them through a thick jungle towards the big dormant volcano in the middle of the Island. As they get closer the Vikings can see that the side of the volcano is completely covered by small caves from which dragons look down at them with curious expressions. They must be the first humans to ever set foot on the heart of the dragons’ territory — and yet, all they’re received with is curiosity and wariness. 

“Deku said dragons would be afraid of us,” Katsuki says to Hitoshi, interrupting his little whispers with Kaminari.

“Ahn… I mean, yeah, usually, I guess. Dragons are afraid of finding human boats at sea.” Hitoshi explains, seeming a little confused by the question.

“None of them look afraid now.”

“I suppose it’s hard to be afraid when the humans come alone, without weapons, and are surrounded by so many other dragons.” The purple dragon says shrugging.

As they go up the volcano, the curious gazes follow them until they reach the entrance of a huge cave. Way bigger than any other entrance around, it must be some kind of ‘City Hall’ thing of the dragons.

“We’re here,” Hitoshi says and Katsuki keeps walking towards the cave. “Wait! Shouldn’t we talk about this? Make some kind of plan?”

“I don’t need any fucking plan! I’m just gonna talk to the old geezers!” Katsuki snaps at him.

“Dude, if he said we need a plan, then we-” Sero argues.

“Then we what? There’s nothing we can do! If they want us dead, we will be dead! We didn’t bring our weapons from the boat; even if we did, we can’t fight a whole island of dragons!” Katuski yells frustrated at his three friends and Hitoshi, who looks at him as if he’s crazy. “If any of you are afraid then just fucking stay here! But I’m gonna save Deku! I’m gonna talk to these fuckers and say they don’t have the right to tell us who to talk to! Who to be friends with! Who to love! They don’t have the right to keep so much hidden and then blame us for not knowing! And they can’t expect things to get better if they’re just going to hide away and not talk about it!”

“You’re incredibly mouthy for something so puny.” A deep voice rumbles behind him and Katsuki turns to look at the cave.

Standing there are several dragons of different sizes and colors. 

One of them is so tall that it could barely pass through the cave entrance, that golden dragon must be at least six meters tall, but is skinny to the point of looking sick. There’s also a light blue tiny plump dragon, a dragon that’s all white, another that’s grey and golden. And there’s a man — a huge man, twice the size of the young Vikings, with bulging muscles, red hair, fire as a beard and cold eyes.

“Well, you haven’t seen nothing yet, big asshole. Now tell me where the fuck is Izuku!”

“Who do you think you are to come to our territory and start making demands? I should burn you to a crisp and get this whole problem over with.”

“You think I’m the problem?! You’re the fucking problem! You and all these damn rules! If any of you fuckers had gotten your big heads out of your asses and began talking to us, WE COULD HAVE PREVENTED SO MUCH KILLING!”

“That’s enough, human! You’ll hold your tongue or I’m going to make sure you won’t say another word ever again!” The big guy marches towards Katsuki with a furious expression, fire crackling with his every movement.

“Endeavor! That’s enough!” The tiny blue dragon becomes an even tinier old lady. She barely reaches the high of the Viking’s waist and looks extremely frail, but her voice is thunderous. “This situation won’t get resolved by bullying children!”

“I’m not a child! And I wanna know where Deku is! If any of you fuckers hurt him I’m-”

“You’re going to do what, young man?” The white dragon becomes… a bear? A mouse? Dressed in human clothes, standing like a man and carrying a teacup. Damn, dragon magic is wacky. “As you said before, you’re outnumbered and without any weapons.”

“I have something better than weapons,” Katsuki says glaring.

“And can you tell me what would that be?” The bear-mouse-man asks curious.

“Friends. I have these three idiots who came with me even though they knew they could get killed. And we’ve got dragons who helped us get here. We have dragons who even went to battle trying to protect us, and dragons who stayed behind to make sure harm didn’t come our way. Hell, even these dragons that are looking around right now!” Katsuki points to the hundreds of little caves on the volcano’s side where a huge number of dragons watched this all unfold. “They aren’t afraid of us! And I bet they could be our friends if we just got the chance.”

“But you won’t have this chance. I can guarantee you that no matter what happens, after today you’ll never see a dragon again.” Endeavor says with his icy cold eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're getting close to the end!  
> Will Katsuki's speech move the Elders?  
> Wil Endeavor kill our Vikings?  
> And where is Izuku?
> 
> Soon you'll all find out! _*cliffhanger song*_
> 
> (And thanks [@greatcloudninja](https://twitter.com/greatcloudninja?s=09) for keeping me sane during these last chapters. I swear this fic wouldn't get finished without her.)


	29. How to bridge two worlds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to **[@greatcloudninja](https://twitter.com/greatcloudninja?s=09)**. Without Cloud, this fic wouldn't get finished! She's been such an important motivator and has helped to keep me sane in this last stretch! ❤️❤️❤️

**How to bridge two worlds**

Izuku is dead set on talking to the Elders, to explain how everything is his fault and to try to work with them to find a solution that would guarantee his friends’ safety. The prospect of facing the five strongest and wisest dragons alive is very scary, but he has to do it. He needs to protect his friends, he needs to honor everything Kacchan had taught him.

When he gets to the island, he and Hitoshi talk to Tsuyu to find out where Tenya and Shouto were. The water dragon tells them his two friends are in the Elders’ Cave arguing in favor of Izuku and the humans. Izuku is determined to march straight there and get this situation solved. Hitoshi, Ochako and Tsuyu’s protests fall on deaf ears, Izuku doesn't even give his other friends a chance to argue with him.

He walks to the Elders’ Cave without paying attention to the worried looks of his friends behind him. Yuga meets them in the middle of the way and tries his best to talk Izuku into at least making a plan, talking about an escape route. However, Izuku knows there is no escaping his fate. He made his decisions and now he has to deal with the consequences. His plan is just to explain the situation to the best of his abilities and make sure the Elders understand that Kacchan’s village doesn’t represent any risk to the dragons.

However, no one lets him say anything! The moment he puts a paw inside the cave Recovery Girl yells at him for making his mother worry so much and, before Izuku realizes what's going on, Inko is hugging and scenting him vigorously. No one gives him a chance to even begin explaining. Actually, no one has even talked to him or asked him any sort of question!

The whole meeting is just Endeavor and Gran Torino trading jabs while Nezu makes some cryptic remarks. And they ask Shouto and Tenya the same questions over and over again with complete disregard for the answers the young dragons gave them. 

_ ‘Did any human try to hurt you?’, ‘Do you know if the humans are preparing an attack?’, ‘Did you see their weapons?’, ‘Do they have any kind of magic?’. _

Izuku tries to interject many times, but his mother always shushes him down. Even when All Might asks about his injuries, he directs the question to Tenya and Shouto. Izuku hasn’t felt this weak and powerless since before he met Kacchan. He hates this situation but he doesn’t know how to make himself heard without angering the Elders even more.

During a point in the meeting, after the Elders finally accept the fact that Izuku’s injuries were caused by his own quirk and not by the humans, Recovery Girl comes to check on his wings. The old dragon and his mother nag him to no end.

‘You’re lucky to be alive, young dragon.’ Recovery Girls thinks to him, muffling the thoughts coming from the other dragons in the middle of the cave. ‘Most dragons can’t really say they stayed among humans for so long and lived to tell the tale. And your wings seem to have healed nicely too. I’m very impressed. Had you come home, I’d have used my quirk on them to make sure there’d have been no lasting damage.’

‘It’s not like that! The humans don’t-’ Izuku tries arguing but he’s completely ignored.

‘Do you think he will still be able to fly without future problems?’ His mother asks the older dragon worriedly.

‘I came back home flying and-’ Again, they don’t hear Izuku’s thoughts.

‘I don’t see why not. The wings look strong enough. We will see once everything is dealt with.’ Recovery Girl interrupts him. A raucous coming from the entrance of the cave grabs the blue dragon’s attention. ‘Take care of him, Inko. I’ll see with them what the commotion is all about.’ Recovery Girl says before going back to the other Elders.

‘I can’t believe it, Izuku! You should have known better! You know your quirk is too destructive! You can’t use it! Can you imagine what could have happened to you? Completely helpless-’ His mother starts the same speech for what seems like the hundredth time since he arrived.

‘I wasn’t helpless! I had my friends! I can control my powers!’ Izuku’s thoughts come out whining but he’s so frustrated. No one listens to him! No one takes him seriously!

‘Control your powers? If you could control your quirk you wouldn’t have found yourself in this situation from the get-go!’ Inko berates him harshly and then continues more gently. ‘I was just so worried, baby. I thought I’d never see you again.’

‘I’m sorry, mom,’ Izuku pleads. ‘But it was not as bad as you’re thinking. Kacchan took care of me and-’

“I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY, YOU BIG FUCKING FIRE ASSHOLE! NO ONE WILL KEEP ME AWAY FROM DEKU!” 

There’s only one person with a voice loud enough to echo through the cave like that.

‘Kacchan!’ Izuku thinks and wrestles out of his mother’s hold to rush towards the entrance, his quirk helping him to get free.

There he sees Kacchan yelling at Endeavor in his human form. Almost all the Elders are in their human forms (or something, Izuku isn’t sure what Nezu is).

“You filthy little-” Endeavor marches on aggressively, he looks ready to hurt Katsuki and Izuku can’t let that happen.

His quirk flares even brighter in his body and he closes the distance in the blink of an eye, putting himself between the Elder and the human. Izuku growls at Endeavor, his body still sparkling with the effects of his power.

Everybody looks at the scene astounded. The birds can be heard chirping around them, not even the dragons looking at the scene from their caves on the volcano's side dare to breathe. From Izuku’s stance, it’s clear that he’ll attack if Endeavor tries hurting Katsuki.

“Oh my, it seems like you did learn how to control your quirk, my boy,” the last Elder transforms into human, bringing everybody’s attention to himself and instantly deescalating the situation.

All Might was once the strongest and most powerful dragon of all. But a dire battle with one of the exiled dragons left him terribly wounded. Now, even his human form looks skeletal and sick. Izuku shifts into human as well and grabs Katsuki’s hand.

“I’m not gonna let anyone hurt Kacchan or our other friends!” He says decisively. “I don’t care what you all do to me, I know I broke the rules. But this is not their fault! They did nothing wrong and they aren’t a threat to dragons!”

“Their kind has hunted us down for generations!” Endeavor screams.

“And we’ve hurt them back just as much!” Izuku argues. “We hid ourselves, we lied to them, and we attacked them when they acted on ignorance! They even think we steal from them!”

“What do they think we steal?” Gran Torino asks confused. It’s interesting to see that the big golden and grey dragon becomes this tiny, frail old man.

“The sheep. The humans think they own the sheep,” Hitoshi answers from the sidelines. He’s also holding Kaminari’s hand.

“Izuku is right,” Shouto says. “It’s our fault as much as theirs. They know nothing about us, and we know nothing about them. However, as I walked among the humans, they were all warm and welcoming. And they didn’t hesitate in sharing their knowledge and helping me.”

“It was because you looked like them, Shouto. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Endeavors protests.

“He looks nothing like us, fucking old geezer!” Katsuki yells. “No human has such stupid hair!”

“Kacchan, not now,” Izuku berates him, squeezing his hand.

“And itz not beecuse of that!” Ochako argues. “We all shuwed the hoomans who we aere! We ‘ent with them to war against evil hoomans! They’r not afraid of us! They’r nice!”

“Exactly, we all showed ourselves to a big group of humans — all of them with weapons — and no one hurt us. The humans are welcoming when they don’t think we’re there to kill them either.” Hitoshi supports her.

“So you all broke the rules! Not only did you show yourselves to a handful of human children but you also showed yourselves to a human army!” Endeavor rumbles. “And now you expect us to take the word of younglings and change laws that have been in place for centuries?!”

Before anyone can argue, though, they feel the wind of powerful wings flapping as Mina lands right there in the middle of them. Mina’s dragon form is so huge that it occupies the whole center of the circle that formed around Katsuki, Izuku, and Endeavor. From her back, Mitsuki jumps out, hitting the ground right in front of them.

“No, you can take my word for it. I’m Bakugou Mitsuki, Earl of Musutafu and head of the Council of Earls of the East.”

Izuku could feel Katsuki ready to yell something and he clamps down on the Viking’s hand to prevent him. Things get more confusing and complicated each passing second, but if there’s something Izuku is sure is that they shouldn’t get in Mitsuki’s way. She’s the one with legitimacy to speak for the humans and he’ll let her argue with the Elders as long as no one seems in danger.

“So you’re the leader of the humans,” All Might says getting close to stand by Endeavor’s side. The other Elders also approach them.

“I’m the leader of the village of Musutafu, the village where your dragons were hiding. And I’m part of the council of the villages near the coast. But I cannot speak for all live humans.” The woman explains calmly and with grace.

“Well, we know humans don’t have a central authority. But since you’re the leader of the settlements closer to us, I suppose that’s the best we could hope for.” All Might says.

“So you’re responsible for these kids. I take you’re the one who will answer for their acts.”

“NO!”

“No!”

Katsuki and Izuku yell at the same time, but none of the older dragons look at them. They have their focus on Mitsuki as she answers calmly.

“Yes. I’ll answer for my brats. And for Izuku and Mina too. It was my village they were at, the messes they made were made under my watch.”

All the young Vikings and dragons seem ready to protest, but Mitsuki doesn’t give them the chance. Her aura of power doesn’t allow for anyone to contest her words. Even Katsuki is silently stunned, watching the whole situation unfold.

“And yet, you were completely unaware of the existence of dragons amidst your people.” Endeavor accuses.

“It’s not like I haven’t noticed new kids running around. Izuku himself was living in my house, sharing his meals with my family. And it was impossible not to realize that, wherever they have come from, it wasn’t a village like ours.” Mitsuki answers unbothered by Endeavor’s tone. “However, Izuku, Mina and the others are sweet kids. They are nice, everyone who met them loved them. I saw no reason to send them away as they were doing nothing wrong.”

Mitsuki finishes with a soft smile on her face as her head turns slightly towards Izuku. But quickly she goes back to face the Elders and continues with a tired tone. “I should have asked more questions. I should have made them explain what was happening. But if I hadn’t seen Izuku as a dragon with my son on his back, I’d have never imagined such a thing was even possible. My people don’t understand sorcery, we never knew dragons could look like something else. Honestly, I still don’t understand how that’s possible, but I just figured there were things more important than understanding right now.”

“I completely disagree, Bakugou Mitsuki,” All Might speaks up. “I think understanding is the key factor in this whole situation. We have never understood the humans, and we never gave the chance for humans to understand us. And yet, somehow, against all the odds, these two younglings came together and became friends.”

“More than friends,” Mitsuki interrupts him. “My stupid brat is in love with Izuku and if we don’t make that clear, he’s going to start a scene here.”

Mitsuki chuckles, side-eyeing Katsuki and Izuku who are still holding hands.

“And they’re not the only ones!” Kirishima interrupts grabbing Mina’s hand. “I’m gonna marry Mina! She said yes!”

“Not now, Shitty Hair!” Katsuki barks between his teeth and Izuku chuckles.

“Oh, so now you understand the concept of time and place,” he teases Kacchan.

“But you’re right. There’s a lot of misunderstanding between our kinds,” Mitsuki says turning back to the Elders. “And I’m really sorry about that. I know these will never make up for the lives lost, but I can guarantee you that no warrior under my rule will ever attack a dragon again.” The woman takes out her necklace of dragon teeth and puts it on All Might’s big, bony hand. “I’m truly sorry.”

All Might looks at the necklace with watery eyes before raising his head and smiling brightly for the woman. “Thank you, Bakugou Mitsuki. It means a lot. We also have blood on our claws and guilt in our conscience. For too long we kept our secrets, even when it only brought us pain.”

“We can change that now. We can raise our kids better than our parents raised us,” Mitsuki says. “Actually, I think we already did, because, without them, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”

“That’s madness!” Endeavor protests furious. “We can’t actually consider having a relationship with the humans!”

“Why not? We already have a relationship with them, a bad one. All that we’ll be doing is making this relationship actually good and useful.” Gran Torino argues.

“I’ve met humans. I believe a stronger connection between our communities would be extremely beneficial. They have made exquisite progress in alimentation. Have you all heard about pies?” Shouto explains stoically.

“Knowledge is a one-way street. You can never unlearn things. The humans already know about us. Just killing the ones here won’t change that fact, so we might as well take advantage of it,” Nezu inputs.

“I’ve seen more than enough killing in my lifetime. I’d really appreciate it if we could solve this without spilling blood,” Recovery Girl agrees.

“And I agree!” All Might says boisterously. “This might be a beautiful way to build a bridge between humans and dragons!”

“Are you all insane?! We can’t possibly-” Endeavor starts talking, but is interrupted by Gran Torino.

“So, can we make this an official Council vote? All in favor of establishing friendly relations with the humans under Bakugou Mitsuki’s leadership say yes!”

The only one of the Elders who holds his tongue is Endeavor. The fiery dragon is known for being a traditionalist — but this also means that he’ll never go against a decision made by the Council. Once a vote is made, there’s no going back.

“Then it’s decided!” All Might yells to all the dragons watching. “From now on, the humans will be our friends!”

Izuku can’t believe what he’s hearing. Not even in his wildest dreams he hoped for such a positive solution. He feels overwhelmed with his feelings as he sees everyone around him begin celebrating and sharing hugs. His friends are jumping with joy, All Might and Mitsuki are talking with smiles on his faces, Shouto is explaining what pies are to Gran Torino, and-

“You big dummy!” Katsuki yells at him squeezing Izuku’s nose. “I can’t believe you pulled this shit, Deku! You left me behind! After all we talked about! We agreed we’d stay together!”

“I’m b- sobby, Kacchan,” Izuku says with his nose still being held by the Viking. The dragon begins crying when he sees the worried expression of the boy as Katsuki lets go of his nose. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t want *hic* for anybody to get hurt.”

“You damn big idiot,” Katsuki says before pulling Izuku for a tight hug. “Don’t ever do that again! Promise me we’ll always fix things together!”

“I promise, I never want to be away from Kacchan ever again,” Izuku sobs in Katsuki’s shirt.

Katsuki just hugs him back, petting his hair to calm him down. Kacchan truly is the best and Izuku can’t believe he was ready to make such a sacrifice. Now that he knows he won’t have to, the emotions overflow from him and all the dragon can do is hold tight on the boy.

“Would you mind introducing us, Izuku?” Izuku turns around and sees his mom in her human form — a short plump lady with hair as green as his.

The dragon cleans the tears from his face with the back of his hand and gives her a wobbly smile. “Mom, this is Katsuki. He’s been taking care of me, he’s the one who helped me learn how to use my teeth and my quirk and he’s my best friend.”

“And future husband,” Katuski says puffing up his chest and raising his chin proudly.

“Nice to meet you, Katsuki. Thanks for taking care of my son,” his mother says gently filling Izuku with even more happy emotions.

“I’m the one who should be thanking you,” Mitsuki shows up next to them. “Izuku is an angel, he’s been keeping my damn brat in line for me.”

“I don’t need to be kept in line, old hag!” Katsuki yells at his mother, but she just pushes his face away.

“We should talk about how we’ll organize all this now. I’m sure you don’t want Izuku running away to hide again,” Mitsuki says to Inko, making Izuku blush. “And these two will need some sort of limit from now on. Clearly I’ve been letting my brat too loose,” she snarls at Katsuki and the boy snarls back.

“There’s nothing to talk about! I’m marrying Deku and I won’t have to deal with you anymore!”

“You two are too young for marriage, brat!” Mitsuki yells at him. “I’m not letting sweet Izuku make  such a big mistake at this age!”

“They’re quite lively, aren’t they?” His mom whispers to him giggling.

“Yeah, they are,” Izuku smiles back.

Everything would be alright now. They’ll find a way to deal with the challenges together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is almost the end! Next chapter will be an epilogue!  
> I'm crying, guys 😭 I can't believe this story is almost over! ❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭  
> It's been a wild ride and thanks so much for everyone who has stuck around to read about my silly dragons!


	30. How to live Happily Ever After

**How to live Happily Ever After**

“I’m going to fucking kill that useless lizard! I’m gonna skin him alive and use his hide to make a purse!” Katsuki barks furiously.

“He’ll be here,” Sero tries calming him down. “He wouldn’t miss it.”

“Of course he’ll be here! If he misses this shit, I swear I’m gonna pull all of his teeth out with a pickax!” The young Viking rants frantically. “We can’t let those fuckers think they know shit about this! We’re the fucking best and I won’t have stupid Half n’Half winning this motherfucking competition!” 

“Calm down! There he is!” Sero points to the sky where a little dark green dot is flying towards them.

Deku must be using his quirk since he’s approaching at an unbelievable speed. This only makes Katsuki even angrier because now it’s obvious that the dragon overslept and had to come rushing to not miss their turn.

The dragon glides over the top of the houses as he passes through the center of the village, people wave at him as he goes by. In seconds, he’s landing gracefully right in front of the two boys. The moment his paws hit the grass, Izuku blinks into his human form and rushes to Bakugou apologizing.

“I’m here! I’m here! Sorry, Kacchan!”

“You shitty lazy gecko! How fucking long did you sleep? Actually, how late did you go to sleep?” Katsuki yells grabbing Izuku’s ear harshly. “Did you spend the whole night awake with your goddamn nerd books?”

“Kacchan! It hurts!” Izuku whines trying to get his ear free. The Viking releases his hold still huffing. “I’m sorry I’m late, but I’m here now! No one will beat us! We’re the best!”

“Of course we are,” Katsuki agrees smugly. “Those other losers don’t stand a chance.”

“ _ NOW, THE NEXT DUO IS BAKUGOU KATSUKI AND IZUKU. PLEASE, APPROACH THE FIELD AND GET READY FOR YOUR ROUND.”  _ Hisashi’s loud voice blares through the field even with the huge crowd gathered around, talking excitedly.

Everybody is enthusiastic to see the competition. It’s been debated for ages and every human-dragon duo has been working extremely hard to be on their top performance. The winner will have bragging rights  **_forever_ ** since there will only be one First Cooperative Human & Dragon Sheep Herding Competition. 

It was scheduled to celebrate the first anniversary of the friendship established between humans and dragons when Mitsuki talked to the Elders. These last couple of months had everyone’s nerves running high to organize a successful festival and to be ready to show who is the best in the competition.

Katsuki and Izuku would be going against six other duos — their biggest competition was Shitty Hair and Pinky, and Shouto and the blacksmith’s daughter, Yaoyorozu Momo. Half n’ Half and Ponytail were very strategic in their herding; they have several maneuvers prepared to deal with whatever the sheep throw at them. Shitty Hair and Pinky rely on Pinky’s massive size; she’s so big she occupies half the field and doesn’t give the sheep a lot of options where to run.

It’s a tough competition, but Katsuki and Deku are the best. They are faster, more agile, have more stamina and can practically read each other’s thoughts — and the sheep are still terrified of Deku more than any other dragon. So there was no reason for Katsuki to worry, except the fact that his stupid dragon is a goddamn nerd who spends whole fucking nights bending over his notebooks.

“I can’t believe you pulled this shit today,” Bakugou grumbles as they walk towards the field.

“I already said I’m sorry, Kacchan!” Deku argues. “And it’s not shit, I’m compiling information about dragons for the humans, and about humans for the dragons. It’s important work!”

“Not for today, it isn’t!”

Izuku grabs his hand to make Katsuki stop and kisses his cheek softly. The Viking instantly blushes a bright red, and his anger simmers down.

“It’s gonna be alright, we’re gonna win. Don’t worry.” The dragon smiles to him before letting go of his hand and shifting back to his natural form. 

They pass through the wooden gate under applauses and cheers. The sheep shake in their legs, watching the menacingly green dragon stalk the field.

The course is very complicated. They need to take the herd through a series of obstacles like jumping through logs, zig-zagging over posts, going up and down a seesaw and, the most difficult one, skipping over the stones in a small make-shift pond. Really, they shouldn’t have traded Aizawa for Nezu as the competition organizer.

“ _ READY?”  _ Hisashi asks, Bakugou and Izuku nod. “ _ THEN LET’S START THIS PARTY!” _

With just one look, Deku is already trotting to the corner of the field to gather the herd together. Katsuki runs to triangulate their position with the sheep and make sure no lamb runs free. The first challenge is to just run the perimeter of the field until they can get in position for the jumps.

No sheep dare glance around when Deku is growling next to them. Katsuki keeps his scowl in place to make sure the wooly fuckers know he’s not here to play around either. When he sees a chubby one getting behind, he sprints towards it, yelling to get the sucker moving faster. The herd passes through their jumps and the zig-zag poles without a glitch.

In the seesaw, they get their first real challenge. The whole herd can’t go through it at the same time, so they need to organize the sheep in batches. There’s always one that wants to go up before their time, but Deku stays on the foot of the obstacle counting sheep by sheep that goes up there; while Katsuki keeps the fuckers who made to the other side in place.

The pond is what he was fearing the most because he knows the sheep are terrified of getting their fluffy white fleece dirty — they’re some finicky assholes. So, when they saw they were being taken towards the mud, the herd tried to scatter around. Izuku had to open up his wide wings and show his teeth growling to keep them focused, Katsuki stomped around on their side to keep them in line towards the pond.

Still, one sheep gets loose and makes a run towards the stands. With one sharp look of Bakugou’s eyes, Izuku is taking flight to catch the fugitive. Katsuki can’t really pay attention to what his dragon is doing, he needs to keep his eyes on the herd that’s now skipping through stones. But he knows Deku will probably grab the sheep with his mouth while keeping his teeth retracted and drop it at the end of the line of sheep that wait for their time to go through the obstacle.

When finally the last sheep enters the small enclosure that marks the end of the course, the audience breaks into cheers and yells. It was a perfect round, Katsuki is sure it was much better than what any of their competitors can do. The Viking hugs Izuku’s big neck in celebration as all of their friends clap for them.

“WE DID IT! SUCK ON THAT, HALF N’ HALF!” Bakugou screams happily to the red and white dragon that watches them from the corner of the field.

There were two more duos to go after them, but Katsuki didn’t even pay attention to them. He was a pile of nerves waiting for the competition but, now that they've made it, he’s feeling confident. There’s absolutely no way they’ll lose. 

“What the fuck were you working on last night that kept you awake?” Katsuki asks as they sit down on a bench outside of the perimeter of the excited audience.

“A map!” Izuku says smiling brightly. “Tsuyu and I got together with the fishermen to talk about good fishing areas that we can all use now. So I decided to draw a map with the compiled information of dragon and human's fishing territories. Tsuyu and some other dragons will also work with the humans to develop cooperative fishing techniques.”

The dragon explains excitedly as he pulls a rolled paper from his pouch and opens it up for Katsuki. He picks up the paper to see Izuku’s drawing. Deku is really good at this nerd shit, he’s been writing books and making maps like crazy these last few months.

“Not bad, nerd,” he grumbles his approval.

“Kacchan! It’s upside down!” Izuku pulls the map from his hands and turns it.

“How the fuck is a map upside down, dweeb? There’s no up and down in a map!” Katsuki barks at him.

“Of course there is! Dragon's archipelago is up!”

“The fucking sky is up! Dragon’s archipelago is north!” The Viking argues.

“And dragons fly, so our territory is up!” Izuku retorts.

“You don’t even live in the Dragon’s archipelago anymore! You live on the continent!”

“On top of the mountain! So, still up,” the dragon says matter-of-factly.

“That doesn’t make any fucking sense! And it was a terrible idea! If you and your mom lived in the village, I could have woken you up at the right time,” Katsuki complains.

This is still a sore subject to him. He understands why the dragons who wanted to live close to humans decided to make their small community on top of the mountain — easier flying path to the archipelago, more space for their large bodies, and they were still not ready to live inside a human village. Bakugou doesn’t care if the Purple fucker, Pinky or any other loser lives almost two hours hiking away from Musutafu. 

But he didn’t like that Deku and his mother were there too. Sure, Deku comes down every morning to spend the day with him; but it’s not the same. And Katsuki misses waking up to the heavy feeling of the dragon’s head on his chest.

“Hey,” Izuku softly bumps his shoulder on Bakugou’s. “It’s just for a year or two longer. In no time, we’ll be old enough to live together.”

“To get married, you mean,” Katsuki grumbles. “I still think we’re already old enough.”

“But our parents prefer for us to take our time courting. It’s understandable.” Izuku reminds him. “Besides, you still haven’t danced or lustered your scales, Kacchan. Tenya won’t accept our mating until you do.”

“I’m going to fucking luster that idiot’s ass with kicks!” Bakugou barks. “The fucker has no say in how we’re doing our shit!”

“The dance is not that hard, bro!” Kirishima’s voice startles the two boys. “I could help you out! Mina’s parents and sister were very impressed with my dance.”

“I’d rather nail my foot to the ground,” Katsuki says rolling his eyes as Shitty Hair and Pinky join them.

“Will you two just stay here the whole day?” Mina asks. “The pie competition will start soon! Shouto says he’s very hopeful about the acceptance of his whale pie.”

“That sounds disgusting,” Katsuki says earnestly.

“Whale is tasty, Kacchan,” Izuku interjects.

“I’m honestly more interested in Sero’s vegetarian pies. He’s been making great fillings with carrots and goat cheese.” Shitty Hair says thoughtfully.

“We should go see their pies, then!” Izuku jumps up from the bench. “And maybe get some Taiyaki if Gran Torino hasn’t eaten them all already!”

Their village is booming with life. It’s a mess of people from the nearby villages and dragons in their natural forms and in their human shifts (some not all that human). The pure chaos would have made Katsuki irked a couple of years ago — but now he actually enjoyed it a little. The turmoil means that Izuku and everyone he cares about is free to be themselves in his home and that brings more joy to Katsuki than he’ll ever admit.

Sure, it wasn’t an easy transition. Not every dragon was keen in having humans going around their territory; and several humans freaked out with the idea of dragons flying over their homes. But the old hag proved why she was a brilliant leader and got everyone to respect each other and to work in accepting this new way of life. The shitty Elders helped a little too. Even Endeavor spoke up in favor of humans because he may hate the new rules, but he hates people who don’t obey the rules even more.

In the midst of it all, Izuku and Katsuki become sort of ambassadors of the human-dragon friendship. Bakugou hates having to intervene in quarrels between dragons and humans all the time — it’s always ‘he ate my sheep!’ and ‘the sheep can speak for their own herd’ — but he supposes there’s no other way about it. He and Deku are clearly the best pair and they’re the best their communities have to offer; so obviously it’d fall on their shoulders to lead the process.

The other idiots who have been running after them, Vikings and dragons, also have been helping. Shouto is an Elder representative who lives in the continent and is also helping set up cooking classes for dragons. Mina and Kirishima became the leader of territory patrol near the coast to protect them from other villages who aren’t part of their alliance and from exiled dragons. Sero and Tsuyu are working together in animal protection and Vegetarian Awareness. Hitoshi and Denki are studying how dragon magic works on humans and trying to establish if the sheep are, in fact, magic.

Overall, life has been good — but extremely busy. That’s why Katsuki takes every second he can to stay alone with Deku. More often than not he needs to share his dragon’s company with other fuckers and that grinds on his nerves.

“Hey,” he whispers to Deku after each of them has a pie in their hands, traditional chicken for Bakugou and spinach with ricotta for Izuku (he wanted to support Sero’s stand). “Let’s bail.”

The Viking grabs Izuku’s hand and pulls him away from the crowds. It’s hard to find a calmer place to lay down and eat their pies since the village is so full of people and dragons, but they manage to find a spot near the goat’s enclosure.

“Everything all right, Kacchan?” Izuku asks worriedly as he sits by Katsuki’s side, their backs against the wooden wall that keeps the goats in place. 

“It’s fine,” the Viking sighs. “I’m just fucking tired of having so many people around all the time.”

Izuku snuggles closer to Katsuki and drops his head on the boy’s shoulder.

“We worked a lot to put this festival together, hm.”

“Yeah, I feel like I’ve barely seen you these last weeks,” Katsuki admits annoyed, fighting the blush on his cheeks.

“Well, you’re the princess of the village, Kacchan. Your mother needed your help,” Izuku says petting Katsuki’s biceps softly.

“Damn old hag can’t do shit on her own. She calls my fucking name fifty times a day,” Bakugou agrees. “And you’re always busy with your shitty books.”

“Well, I was planning on talking with you about this some other time. After we were done with the festival, but since we’re already on the subject…” Izuku says, his voice full of mirth. “You know I’ve been drawing maps on the dragon’s and human’s territory.”

“Pretty hard not to notice,” Katsuki huffs.

“Well, I’ve been talking to Aizawa because he’s the human with the most extensive knowledge in geography, and we realized there’s a big area of the sea we never established who it belonged to. It was across the human’s territory, so the dragons never went there. But it’s also too far away for human boats to go.” Izuku starts explaining and that’s enough for Katsuki to perk up hopeful.

“And you want to go explore?” His voice sounds too eager to his own ears, but Bakugou doesn’t care about that right now.

“Yeah, I mean… The two of us… With my quirk, we can make the trip way faster than regular boats. And we could discover all kinds of amazing things this way! New islands! New plants! New animals!”

“Just the two of us,” Katsuki smile. “Count me in, nerd.”

Izuku giggles “I’m glad I could convince you.”

“When are we going?”

“Whenever we want. I thought that we could go when the village clears out from the people and dragons who only came for the festival.”

“I wish we could go right now….” Bakugou sighs, “but I suppose that’s good enough.”

What also helps to calm down Katsuki’s mood is the fact that Deku doesn’t bother him to go back to the festival when they finish their lunch. The two of them just stay there cuddling together and scenting (another new thing the dragons brought to the human’s life and that Katsuki got instantly fond of).

They only get up when the bell indicating the end of the day’s activities sounds in the distance. After the last events, the judges would announce the winner of the day’s competitions. The bell means it’s time to find out who won the sheep herding competition and for the festival-goers to get together for the dinner feast.

“Come on! Let’s get our prize!” Izuku says getting up and extending a hand to Katsuki.

The Viking doesn’t think twice before grabbing Deku’s hand and walking with the dragon towards the village’s center.

“Baku! Izu!” Mina waves at them from a spot in the middle of the crowd. Every human and dragon is around waiting for Mitsuki’s speech.

“You guys got here just in time!” Kirishima says excitedly. “Your mom is about to announce the winners!”

Katsuki clicks his tongue, “we’re the fucking winners, Shitty Hair. If we hadn’t arrived, she’d have to wait for us.”

“I don’t know, bro. The competition was fierce! Mina and I had a great round!”

“Everyone did their best, I’m excited to hear the winner,” Izuku smiles as if those losers stood a chance.

“Good evening, everyone!” Mitsuki’s voice sounds through the square and everyone quiets down. “First of all, I’d like us to celebrate the first year of Dragons and Humans' Friendship and one very successful festival!”

The crowd claps and cheers her words.

“And now! For what you’re all waiting for! Let’s congratulate our winners!” Mitsuki proceeds to call for the winners.

The Pie Making Competition had Sero and Tsuyu as winners with their vegetarian pies; in the Fishing Competition, Shouto and Momo dominated because the dragon froze the pond and killed the fish, so all the girl did was pass the net. And the Goat Headbutting Competition was where Kirishima and Mina dominated because the boy had so many years of practice.

“And the winner of the most anticipated Sheep Herding Competition — please give a round of applause for-” Katsuki grabs Deku’s hand ready to run to the stage. “Kaminari and Hitoshi!”

**_WHAT?_ **

Dunce Face? The fucker who thought dressing up as sheep would make them collaborate with the herding shit?! 

“ _ HOW?”  _ Katsuki yells in complete disbelief.

“Hitoshi used his quirk on the sheep,” Mina says shrugging. “Really, there was nothing we could do to beat that.”

Bakugou has to watch incredulously as Kaminari goes up the stage waving to the cheering crowd and Hitoshi follows him with a stupid smile on his face. Anger bubbles in Katsuki’s stomach at the sheer unfairness of the whole thing.

“I’m gonna-! AH! Fucking dragon magic! We never agreed that-!”

“And we never agreed that we couldn’t use magic, Kacchan,” Izuku says petting his hand to calm him down. “It’s alright, it’s just a silly competition. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“It means Kaminari and Hitoshi are the best at herding sheep,” Kirishima interjects not-at-all helpfully.

“I’m gonna fucking-”

“And, finally,” Mitsuki starts talking again taking their attention. “I’d personally like to call a duo that showed us what is the true meaning of dragon-human partnership — to learn from one another, to grow together, to be open to new challenges and to understand different points of view. We wouldn’t be having this festival at all if it wasn’t for these two — so, Katsuki and Izuku, please come up here!”

“Let’s go, Kacchan,” Izuku calls him, pulling his hand towards the stage.

Katsuki is dumbfounded. He feels stunned watching everyone in his community clap and cheer for him and Izuku as they climb the little stage. He’s so confused he doesn’t even argue when his mother pulls him and Deku for a tight hug.

“I’m so proud of you two. My dear boys,” Mitsuki says, almost in tears. “None of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for the two of you.”

After the woman released her hold on them, Izuku waved to the crowd and thanked them for putting so much trust in him and Katsuki.

“Kacchan and I are very happy to see all of our precious friends together!” Deku says smiling.

“Hell yeah! We’re the fucking best!” Katsuki says, smiling back to his dragon.

“And now, let’s feast!” Mitsuki orders and the band starts playing songs.

Food is passed around, several people come to congratulate Katsuki and Izuku, and all of their friends dance around like idiots.

That night will be forever branded in Bakugou’s brain as one of the happiest nights in his life. Decades in the future, he’ll not have forgotten how Izuku’s eyes shined bright in the light of the bonfire, how delicious the feast was, or how much fun he had with his friends. He’ll also never forget how he and Deku sneaked out in the middle of the night to lay together on the sheep field, looking at the full moon and sharing kisses until the sun came up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I CAN'T BELIEVE WE'RE HERE! AHHHHHHH 😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️
> 
> Thanks SO DAMN MUCH for everyone who read, commented and supported this story one way or another!!!
> 
> It's been a wild and fun ride and I'm just so fucking emotional about all of this!! 😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️😭❤️
> 
> Special thanks for [everyone who made arts for this fic](https://mikacrispy.carrd.co/#gifts)!!! You guys have no idea how happy I got to see each one of them!! It gave me strength on the days writing was hard and I was struggling to find my funny.
> 
> Thanks [Cloud](https://twitter.com/greatcloudninja) for helping me every time I had a freak out and thought this was all shit and that every reader would hate me! You're the best!
> 
> Also special thanks for [my sweet boyfriend](https://twitter.com/Gray_Wizzard) who betaed every damn chapter of this fic and put up with me talking about it, and made so many jokes for me to use and was overall the best boyfriend in the goddamn whole world!!! 
> 
>  
> 
> ❤️🐑❤️🐲❤️🐑❤️🐲❤️🐑❤️🐲❤️🐑❤️🐲❤️🐑❤️🐲❤️🐑❤️🐲❤️🐑❤️🐲❤️🐑❤️🐲❤️🐑❤️🐲

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this fic! I'd **love** to read your thoughts or your favorite part of this work! ♡♡♡  
> (and don't worry about not writing it in English! I can read comments in Portuguese and Spanish, and I don't mind using Google Translate for any other language :3 )
> 
> You can see fanarts that were made inspired by this series [**here!**](https://mikacrispy.carrd.co/#gifts)
> 
> [Find me in](https://mikacrispy.carrd.co/)  
> Twitter: [@CrispyMica](https://twitter.com/CrispyMika) |CuriousCat: [MikaCrispy](https://curiouscat.me/MikaCrispy)  
>  _And if you’d like to share a coffee with me, there’s a link on my Twitter._


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